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VOYAGES 

OF 

DISCOVERY AND RESEARCH 

WITHIN 

THE ARCTIC REGIONS, 

FROM THE YEAR 1818 TO THE PRESENT TIME: 



UNDER THE COMMAND Of THE SEVERAL NAVAL OFFI- 
CERS EMPLOYED BY SEA AND LAND IN SEARCH 
OF A NORTHWEST PASSAGE FROM THE AT- 
LANTIC Vo THE PACIFIC, WITH TWO AT- 
TEMPTS TO REACH THE NORTH POLE- 



ABRIDGED AND ARRANGED FROM THE OFFICIAL NARRATIVES, 
WITH OCCASIONAL REMARKS. 



BY SIR JOHN BARROW, Bart., F.R.S. 

JET. 82. 



'In. 



AHTH'Ofi of "A chronological history ok voyages into THE 

AUC5IC REGIONS." 



N E W Y O R K : 

HARPER & BROTHERS. PUBLISHERS, 
329 & 331 PEARL STREET, 

FRANKLIN SQUARE, 
1 8 5 5. 






in Exchange 

Univ. of North Carolina 

JAW 3 1 1934 



?0 



TO THE 

OFFICERS, SEAMEN, AND MARINES, 

WHO FOR SEVERAL YEARS HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED ON 

VOYAGES TO THE ARCTIC REGIONS, 

FOR THE SEARCH OF A NORTHWEST PASSAGE FROM THE 
ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC, 

AND FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND GEOGRAPHY, 

AND WHO, 

BY THEIR DEVOTED ZEAL, COURAGE, AND FORTITUDE, HAVE 
SUPPORTED THE HIGH CHARACTER OF 

THIS RECORD OF THEIR VALUABLE SERVICES 

IS, WITH GREAT REGARD AND ADMIRATION, 
INSCRIBED, 
BY THEIR SINCERE WELL-WISHER, 



JOHN BARROW. 



PREFACE. 



If, by bringing forward the present volume, 
I shall have succeeded in affording gratification 
to those who are mainly the objects of it, my 
principal aim will be accomplished : in the com- 
pilation of it, I was influenced by the consider- 
ation that such an epitome was due to those 
whose persevering and adventurous exertions 
for the extension and improvement of science 
and geography have conferred a public benefit ; 
but it did not escape me that something of this 
kind was also wanting, and might be accepta- 
ble, to supply the place of the official quarto vol- 
umes, whose costly size and decorations pre- 
clude them from the general and ordinary class 
of readers. By the copious details they em- 
brace, in every branch of astronomical and nau- 
tical science, of geography, meteorology, and 
other physical researches — the charts and prints 
by which they are illustrated — they are made 
highly valuable to the man of science and taste, 
and well adapted for public libraries, or those 
generally found in the mansions of the wealthy ; 
but they are not exactly suited for general cir- 
culation. 



VI PREFACE. 

It was pretty much on the same grounds that, 
some years ago, when the renewal of the search 
for a Northwest Passage was set on foot, I was 
induced to bring out a small volume descriptive 
of the discoveries and exploits of our old " ma- 
rine worthies" in the Arctic regions, commen- 
cing in the days of the Cabotas ; the originals 
of which being confined, in like manner, to the 
huge folios of the old chroniclers, were very lit- 
tle known to the public at large. The object 
which I then had in view was to show briefly 
what had been accomplished by the former race 
of British naval officers and their hardy sea- 
men, and, at the same time, to make their deeds 
more familiarly known to the existing race 
about to be employed on similar pursuits, and in 
the same regions of the globe. 

A like view of setting forth to public notice 
the arduous services of our recent Arctic voy- 
agers by sea and land — of endeavoring to ap- 
preciate their several characters and conduct, 
so uniformly displayed in their unflinching per- 
severance in difficulties of no ordinary descrip- 
tion—their patient endurance of extreme suffer- 
ing, borne without murmuring, and with an 
equanimity and fortitude of mind under the most 
appalling distress, rarely if ever equalled, and 
such as could only be supported by a superior 
degree of moral courage and resignation to the 



PREFACE, Vll 

Divine will — -of displaying virtues like these of 
no ordinary cast, and such as will not fail to ex- 
cite the sympathy and challenge the admiration 
of every right- feeling reader— has been the 
pleasing yet anxious object of the present vol- 
ume. 

Officers such as are herein mentioned are sure 
to create corresponding good seamen — by the 
establishment of i*egular discipline and good or- 
der — by judicious employment to prevent idle- 
ness and discontent — by aljowing amusement 
and mirthful hilarity to divert the mind from 
despondency — and, above all, by attention to 
their wants and to their comforts — these are the 
means to inspire confidence and obtain obedi- 
ence; and seamen so commanded and treated 
will never receive, because they will never re- 
quire, any kind of corporal punishment. 

The perilous incidents and adventures to 
which many, both officers and men, were nec- 
essarily exposed — the hopes and fears by which 
they were alternately excited — are so well and 
forcibly described in the several Journals of the 
former, that I have endeavored to preserve, as 
far as it could be done, their own respective 
statements in their own words, singly, or inter- 
woven into the text of the present narrative. 

The physical power of the navy of England 
has long been duly appreciated at home, also 



V1J1 PREFACE. 



by most foreign nations, and is matter of public 
record ; its moral influence, though less the ob- 
ject of publicity, requires only to be more ex- 
tensively known to be equally felt and esteem- 
ed ; and nothing can be more conducive to this 
end than the results to be derived from voy- 
ages of discovery such as those under consid- 
eration, whose great aim has been the acquisi- 
tion of knowledge, not for England alone, but 
for the general benefit of mankind. 

It may be noticed that the present epitome is 
meant to convey the substance of six or seven 
large quarto volumes, with two or three small- 
er ones, containing together from three to four 
thousand pages, exclusive of four or five other 
volumes, consisting entirely of subjects in natu- 
ral history, which on the present occasion do 
not fall within my province. 

I can not but feel it a most gratifying reflec- 
tion that, in so great a number of persons who 
have been employed and passed several winters 
in one of the most Cold, dark, and desolate re- 
gions of the globe, so few lives, in some of the 
ships none, have been lost. It is equally grat- 
ifying to have the opportunity of recording, 
which I have not omitted to do, that most of 
those who survived the trial have received ad- 
vancement in their professional career, or some 
distinction of honor, in reward of their services ; 



PREFACE. IX 

and that there are few of those in the inferior 
ranks who have not improved their condition in 
life, in consequence of their good conduct on 
very trying occasions. 

I have used the liberty of making a few brief 
occasional remarks on some of the voyages, 
which I am sure the gallant conductors of them 
will take in good part, knowing, as they well do, 
the great interest I have felt in their success, 
from their commencement down to the existing 
expedition under the command of the gallant 
veteran, Sir John Franklin, whom, with his 
brave officers and men, may God preserve.* 

* The two ships, " The Erebus" and " Terror," are the same 
that were employed, tinder the command of Sir James Clark Ross, 
on the Antarctic expedition, and the latter is the same ship that 
carried Back on the ice : on the present occasion they are com- 
manded, officered, and manned as under : 
The Erebus. 
Sir John Franklin, Captain. 
James Fitzjames, Commander. 
Graham Gore, ^ L - 



Hen.T.D.LeVesconte,> tpi] , 

Jas. Wm. Fairholme, ) tenants - 

Charles F. Des Vaux, ~i 

Robert O. Sargent, > Mates. 

E. Couch, > 

H. F. Collins, Second Master. 

Stephen S. Stanley, Surgeon. 

H. D. Goodsir, Assistant Surgeon 

James Read, Ice Master. 
liT Warrant and Petty Officers. 
58 Seamen and Marines. 
70~ Total. 

In recording the names of the above-mentioned officers, those 
of Captain Sir John Franklin and Captain Crozier require nothing 
farther to be said : that of Commander Fitzjames has been dis- 
tinguished in the Euphrates, on the coast of Syria, and in China ; 
and by his zeal and alacrity, his good humor and ever cheerful 



Terror. 

Richard Crozier, Captain. 

Ed. Little, ) 

Geo. H. Hodgson, V Lieutenants. 

John Irving, ) 

Frederic Hornby, ? Tvr„«.~„ 

Robert Thomas, J Mates ' 

Thomas Blanky, Ice Master. 

G. A. Maclean, Second Master. 

John S. Peddie, Surgeon. 

Alex. M'Donald, Assist. Surgeon. 

J. H. Helpman, Clerk in Charge. 
11 Warrant and Petty Officers^ 
57 Seamen and Marines. 
68~ Total. 



X PREFACE. 

disposition, he has made himself a universal favorite in the navy; 
and I am most happy to add that, in his absence, the Board of 
Admiralty have promoted him to the rank of Captain. Lieuten- 
ant Graham Gore served in the last fearful voyage of the Terror ; 
and Lieutenant Fairholme was in the Niger expedition— excel- 
lent officers, both. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 
Preface v 

CHAPTER L 

INTRODUCTION. 

Cause of the renewal of the search for a Northwest Passage from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific 13 

CHAPTER H. 

COMMANDER JOHN ROSS, 

In the Isabella and Alexander— Proceeded up Davis's Strait and Baffin's 
Bay into Lancaster Sound, and returned 25 

CHAPTER m. 

CAPTAIN DAVID BUCHAN, 

With the Dorothea and Trent— Toward the North Pole— Reached the 
northern part of Spitsbergen — Ships damaged in the Ice, and re- 
turned 49 

CHAPTER IV. 

LIEUTENANT PABEY'S FIRST VOYAGE, 

With the Hecla and Griper — Proceeded up Davis's Strait and into Baf- 
fin's Bay, crossed over to Lancaster Sound, Regent's Inlet, through 
Barrow's Strait, and to Melville Island 62 

CHAPTER V. 

CLAVERING AND SABINE, 

To Spitzbergen and Greenland— Hammerfest and Drontheim — To as- 
certain the Ehipticity of the Earth, by swinging the Pendulum . 94 

CHAPTER VI. 

COMMANDER PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE, 

In the Fury and Hecla— Entered Hudson's Strait, Fox's Channel, Fro- 
zen Strait, the Welcome, discovered the Fury and Hecla Strait— Passed 
two winters, and returned 107 

CHAPTER VIL 

CAPTAIN GEORGE LYON, 

In the Griper— Proceeded up Hudson's Strait, Fox's Channel, the Wel- 
come — Unable to reach Repulse Bay — Returned 153 



Xli CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER Vni. 

CAPTAIN PARRY'S THIKD VOYAGE, 

In the Hecla and Fury— Proceeded up Davis's Strait and Baffin's Bay 
into Lancaster Sound and Prince Regent's Inlet, where the Fury was 
wrecked, and. he returned Page 166 

CHAPTER IX. 

CAPTAIN PARRY'S FOURTH VOYAGE, 

In the Hecla— As far as Spitzbergen— Thence in the Boats toward the 
North Pole — Reached nearly the 83d degree of latitude, and re- 
turned . . 197 

CHAPTER X. 

FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON. 

Journey through North America to the Polar Sea, and along the coast 
from Copper Mine River to Point Turn-again 229 

CHAPTER XI. 

FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON. 

Second Journey to the Polar Sea, to the Mackenzie River, thence west- 
ward to the Return Cliff, and eastward to the Copper Mine River 279 

CHAPTER XII. 

BACK'S JOURNEY 

Through North America— Down a River not before navigated by Euro- 
peans to its Estuary on the Polar Sea — Both now known by the name 
of Back 313 

CHAPTER XtH. 
back's voyage 
Toward Repulse Bay — Shut up in the Ice, and floated on the Ice in the 
midst of the Ocean off the east coast of Southampton Island nearly a 
whole year 330 

CHAPTER XIV. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

1. Capt. John Ross's Second Voyage, in a Merchant Vessel. 

2. Select Committee of the House of Commons on that Voyage. 

3. Discoveries on the South Coast of the Polar Sea. By Mr. Thomas 
Simpson 344 



DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE MAPS. 
Chart of Simpson's Strait, to face page 358. 
General Polar Chart and the Arctic Regions, at the end. 



ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

So much has been said on the subject of a northwest 
passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and so many- 
erroneous notions have been afloat concerning it, that I 
deem it proper, by way of introduction, to account for 
the recent revival of the attempts to discover it. 

" Among the changes and vicissitudes to which the 
physical constitution of our globe is perpetually subject, 
one of the most extraordinary, and from which the most 
interesting and important results may be anticipated, ap- 
pears to have taken place in the course of the last two 
or three years, and is still in progressive operation. The 
convulsion of an earthquake, and the eruption of a volca- 
no, force themselves into notice by the dismay and dev- 
astation with which, in a greater or less degree, they are 
almost always attended ; but the event to which we al- 
lude has been so quietly accomplished, that it might have 
remained unknown but for an extraordinary change which 
a few intelligent navigators remarked in the state of the 
Arctic ice, and the reports of the unusual quantities of this 
ice observed in the Atlantic." 

The extract here quoted must, I believe, be laid at my 
door. The event alluded to was the disappearance of 
the whole, or greater part, of the vast barrier of ice 
which for a long period of time, perhaps for centuries, 
was supposed to have maintained its firm-rooted position 
on the eastern coast of Old Greenland ; and its reappear- 
ance in a more southernly latitude, where it was met 
with, as was attested by various persons worthy of credit, 
in the years 1815-16 and 17 ; by ships coming from the 
East Indies and America; by others going to Halifax 
and Newfoundland ; and in different parts of the Atlantic, 
as far down as the 40th parallel of latitude. Some of 
B 



1 4 INTRODUCTION. 

these detached masses were of an unusual magnitude 
and extent, amounting in some instances to whole islands 
of ice, of such vast dimensions that ships were impeded by 
them for many days in their voyages ; others were detach- 
ed icebergs, from a hundred to a hundred and thirty feet 
above the surface of the water, and several miles in cir- 
cumference. The Halifax packet reported that she had 
passed a mountain of ice nearly two hundred feet high, 
and at least two miles in circumference. A ship, belonging 
to the Old Greenland Missions, was eleven days beset on 
the coast of Labrador in floes of ice mixed with icebergs, 
many of which had huge rocks upon them, gravel, soil, 
and pieces of wood : in short, every account from vari- 
ous parts of North America agreed in stating that larger 
and more numerous fields and bergs of ice had been 
seen at greater distances from their usual places, in the 
years above mentioned, than had at any time before been 
witnessed by the oldest navigators. The fact, therefore, 
might be considered as too well authenticated to admit of 
a doubt. 

It was at once concluded from whence the greater 
part of these immense quantities of ice were derived. 
In a letter from Mr. Scoresby the younger, an intelli- 
gent navigator of the Greenland seas, to Sir Joseph 
Banks, he says, " I observed on my last voyage (1817) 
about two thousand square leagues (eighteen thousand 
square miles) of the surface of the Greenland seas, in- 
cluded between the parallels 74° and 80°, perfectly void 
of ice, all of which had disappeared within the last two 
years." And he farther states, that, although, on former 
voyages, he had very rarely been able to penetrate the 
ice, between the latitudes of 76° and 80°, so far to the 
west as the meridian of Greenwich, on his last voyage 
he twice reached the longitude of ..10° west ; that in the 
parallel of 74° he approached the coast of Old Green- 
land ; that there was little ice near the land ; and he 
added, " that there could be no doubt that he might 
have reached the shore had he but a justifiable motive 
for navigating an unknown sea at so late a season of the 
year." This account was fully confirmed by intelligence 
received at Copenhagen from Iceland in the year 1816, 
that the ice had broken loose from the opposite coast of 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

Greenland, and floated away to the southward, after sur- 
rounding the shores of Iceland, and filling all the bays 
and creeks of that island ; and that this afflicting visitation 
was repeated in 1817 — circumstances hitherto unknown 
to the oldest inhabitant. 

About the same time, the whale ships that frequented 
the fishery in Davis's Straits, and the Hudson's Bay trad- ' 
ers, experienced an unusual number of icebergs and 
large floes of ice drifting to the southward down the 
straits and along the coast of Labrador, and past New- 
foundland ; yet as to a certain extent those masses of 
ice were of frequent occurrence in these quarters, and 
occasionally met with in the Atlantic, it was those from 
the eastward that attracted particular notice. 

Whatever the cause may have been for the disruption 
of this immense barrier of ice from the eastern coast of 
Greenland, whether by its own weight after centuries 
of accumulation, or from the partial disruption of the 
coast itself, the fact is unquestionable ; and the notorie- 
ty of it given in the several journals of Europe, and more 
especially in those of England, corroborated by various 
private communications, was among the circumstances 
which, combined with others, gave rise to the revival of 
those voyages of discovery for attempting a passage round 
the northern coast of America to the Pacific Ocean, and 
also to another attempt to reach the North Pole, by pro- 
ceeding between the^east coast of Greenland, now fr§ed 
from ice, and the West coast of Spitzbergen, generally 
not much hampered with ice. A naval officer, the nar- 
rator of one of the very first of the modern expeditions, 
which the change in the ice of the northern seas mainly 
occasioned, opens his account of it as follows • 

" It most opportunely occurred, in the year 1817, that ac- 
counts of a change in the Polar ice particularly favorable to 
the undertaking were brought to England by our whale ships ; 
and as it has generally happened in this country that some 
individual, more sanguine than the rest of the community, 
has, by his superior knowledge, greater exertions, or more 
constant perseverance, succeeded in bringing a project to bear, 
Which, in less vigorous or pertinacious hands, would have 
been suffered to die away, this favorable change was turned 
to so good an account by an influential member of the gov- 
ernment, and whose name is inseparable from northern dis- 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

covery, that, in the following year, his Majesty George IV. ; 
then Prince Regent, was pleased to command that- attempts 
should be made to reach the Pacific, both by the western 
route through Baffin's Bay, and by a northern course across 
the Pole."* 

It would be ridiculously squeamish to affect ignorance 
to whom the compliment in the above passage is meant 
to apply, and the more so as, on the whole, it is true. 
I am fully prepared to admit that part which relates to 
the "sanguine individual" who succeeded by "exer- 
tions" and "perseverance" in bringing the project to 
bear — a project which, like most others that are new and 
not well understood, could not, and therefore did not, 
fail to bring with it censorious remarks, and ill-natured 
but ignorant criticisms from one party, with a modicum 
of praise and approbation from another — as usual, lauda- 
tur ah his, culpatur ah Mis. Previously, however, to 
originating any proposals for the voyages herein treated 
of, no pains were spared in collecting whatever informa- 
tion could be gathered from the expeditions of our old 
travelers, the traders in the service of the Hudson's Bay 
and the Northwest Companies, from scattered remarks 
of whale fishers and casual travelers, such as Hearne 
and Mackenzie : and the information thus gained was 
submitted to the public at the time the first of the recent 
expeditions was in progress. f 

I did not, however, stand alone, having had the good 
fortune to meet with every encouragement from an able 
coadjutor, one ever ready to hold out a helping hand 
when the promotion of science and general knowledge 
was the object. This patron was Sir Joseph Banks. 
Before, therefore, I submitted any proposal to Lord 
Melville, which I knew would be referred to the Presi- 
dent and Council of the Royal Society, as all voyages of 
discovery connected with science were, I thought it 
right to take the president's opinion as to the effect of 
the changes reported to have occurred in the northern 
regions, in which I was aware he took a particular inter- 
est, having himself, in early life, visited Iceland and 
climbed to the top of Mount Hecla ; and as he knew 

* Beechey's Voyage toward the North Pole. 

f Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions, &c. 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

that I had also, in early life, paid a visit to the Spitzber- 
gen seas, as high as Hakluyt's Headland, near the 80th 
parallel, I was sure of engaging his attention on the sub- 
ject, and was not disappointed. He entirely approved 
of the renewal of attempts to accomplish a grand object 
which for three centuries had, at different times, occu- 
pied the attention of our sovereigns, philosophers, men 
of science, and merchants ; and he promised to look over 
and give me any information that his own correspondence 
might furnish : " I may be able," he said, " to name 
those from whom you may receive, and books from 
which you may derive the information you are in quest 
of, but for science I must refer you to my council."* 

Accordingly, I submitted a plan to Lord Melville, then 
First Lord of the Admiralty, a nobleman at all times 
ready to attend to any suggestion that had for its object 
the improvement of science or the interests of navigation 
and commerce. It was sent, as usual, to the President 
and Council of the Royal Society, returned with their 
approval, and submitted to Lord Liverpool, then Prime 
Minister, for his sanction ; and this being obtained, or- 
ders were forthwith issued by the Board of Admiralty 
for the preparation of four ships to be appropriated to 
the service in question — two for the search of a passage 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and two to proceed from 
the sea of Spitzbergen toward the North Pole. 

It may be observed, that none of our old navigators 
were able to penetrate any part of the Polar Sea ; all 
their discoveries were confined to the straits, and inlets, 
and islands on the eastern coast of America, and the 
la^ge straits of Davis and Baffin on the western coast of 
Greenland. Had Baffin entered Lancaster Sound from 
his own strait, he would at once have discovered the sea 
whieh communicates with the Pacific, and then there is 
no saying what this able old navigator and his contem- 
poraries might not have effected. Indeed, at the com- 
mencement of the late Arctic voyages, nothing was known 

* Great Britain has seldom neglected to pay a tribute to the memory 
of men who have distinguished themselves by their zeal for the promo- 
tion of science and the arts ; to which end Sir Joseph Banks has largely 
contributed, personally and by his purse ; yet not even a biographical 
sketch that I know of has been published. Let Sir Edward Rnatchbull 
and the person to whom he gave th© materials look to this. 

B 2 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

of any entrance into the Polar Sea from this side of 
America. All that was known on the first attempt, 
which hardly deserves the name, was, that a Polar Sea 
did exist, that the ships of Captain Cook had looked at 
it through Behring's Strait, and that Hearne and Mac- 
kenzie, two North American travelers, had arrived at 
the northern shore of North America, at different points 
and at different times, and reported, somewhat doubting, 
that they had seen the sea. 

From these circumstances, and, more particularly f 
from the undoubted authorities I had succeeded in col- 
lecting, it was quite clear that a current was constantly 
found setting down Davis's Strait, and the Strait of Hud- 
son's Bay, and also along the shore of Spitzbergen, all 
to the southward ; no doubt, therefore, could remain on 
my mind, that there must be a water communication be- 
tween the seas of the Pacific and the northern Atlantic ; 
that the water supplied through the Strait of Behring (a 
well-established fact) into the Polar Sea was discharged, 
by some opening or other yet to be discovered, into the 
Atlantic. The " Edinburgh Review/' however, turned 
into ridicule the idea of a Polar Basin ; and others en- 
deavored to show that, if these currents existed, they 
must be veiy temporary or occasional, as they would 
otherwise drain this Polar Basin of its water. 

It may be worth the while, now that the shores of 
this Polar Sea have been visited and surveyed, one part 
of them by our own navigators, and the Asiatic part by 
the indefatigable Baron Wrangel and others, to show 
to these would-be-wise gentlemen what that sea really 
is — what are its inpourings, its outpourings, and its (di- 
mensions. In the first place, it is an immense basin of 
water, included by the shores of Asia, of Europe, and of 
America. Of Asia, from Nova Zernbla, in 50° E. long e ., 
to East Cape in Behring's Strait, in 170° \V. long e . ; 
that is, 140° extent of coast. In Europe, from Nova 
Zernbla, in 50° E., to Baffin's Bay, about 70° W., an 
extent of coast equal to 120° ; and in America, from the 
last point, 70° W., to Cape Prince of Wales, 168° W., 
in Behring's Strait, an extent of coast equal to 100°. 
These, including the opening of Behring's Strait and 
that between Greenland and Spitsbergen, comprise the 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

whole circle of 360°, an extent of coast which no other 
detached sea in the world can boast of. It is a circle of 
two thousand four hundred geographical miles in diam- 
eter, and seven thousand two hundred miles in circum- 
ference, considering the latitude of 70° to be the aver- 
age boundary line, which it nearly is, by taking the in- 
lets of the land to balance the outlets of the sea. And, 
in order to satisfy the malcontents regarding the currents 
exhausting its waters, it may, perhaps, be sufficient to 
state what are its supplies. They consist of the con- 
stant influx of a stream through Behring's Strait, of five 
or six great rivers from Asia — the Obi, the Jenisci, the 
Lena, the Indigirka, and the Kolima. Europe supplies 
the waters of the Dwina, with numerous streams from 
the coasts of Norway and Lapland, and the eastern coasts 
of Greenland, and western coast of Baffin's Bay; and 
America pours in several copious streams from the 
Rocky Mountains, with the Mackenzie, the Hearne, or 
the Copper Mine, the Back, and several other minor 
streams. To talk, therefore, of its being exhausted by 
the southernly currents appears to be absolute nonsense. 

The main object intended to be attained by the first 
of the recent expeditions was to discover an entry from 
the eastern side of America into the Polar Sea. But it 
was not done by the first, as it ought to have been done ; 
and, as the second most readily accomplished it, and, 
moreover, navigated one half of that sea to the westward, 
why, then, it may be asked, have future attempts failed 
to navigate the other half? The answer is easy enough — 
they failed by deserting the direct path, that gave them 
half the passage toward Behring's Strait, and tried va- 
rious new ways in search of openings into the Polar Sea, 
and found but one other on the whole eastern coast of 
America, and that one not navigable. The old route of 
Parry through Lancaster Sound and Barrow's Strait, 
as far as to the last land on its southern shore, and thence, 
in a direct line, to Behring's Strait, is the route ordered 
to be pursued by Franklin. 

But it may also be asked, as it has been asked by some 
of that class known by the name of Utilitarians, cui bono 
are these northern voyages undertaken ? If they were 
merely to be prosecuted for the sake of making a passage 



20 INTRODUCTION'. 

from England to China, and for no other purpose, their 
utility might fairly be questioned. But when the acqui- 
sition of knowledge is the groundwork of all the instruc- 
tions under which they are sent forth ; when the com- 
manding officer is directed to cause constant observations 
to be made for the advancement of every branch of sci- 
ence — astronomy, navigation, hydrography, meteorolo- 
gy, including electricity and magnetism, and to make col- 
lections of subjects in natural history — in short, to lose 
no opportunity of acquiring new and important informa- 
tion and discoveiy ; and when it is considered that these 
voyages give employment to officers and men in time 
of peace, and produce officers and men not to be sur- 
passed, perhaps not equalled, in any other branch of the 
service, the question cui bono is easily answered in the 
words of the minister of Queen Elizabeth, " Knowledge 
is Power," the truth of which was practically demon- 
strated to the grumblers of that day by the following re- 
sults. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in consequence of his grant of 
the Island of Newfoundland, made a voyage thither, on 
his return from which he nobly perished ; but his knowl- 
edge did not perish with him : it laid the foundation of 
that valuable cod-fishery which still exists. Davis, by 
the discovery of the strait that bears his name, opened 
the way to the whale-fishery, which still continues to 
flourish ; and Frobisher pointed out the strait which con- 
ducted Hudson to the bay that bears his name, and which 
gave rise to the establishment of a company of mer- 
chants, whose concerns are of such an extensive nature 
as to be earned on across the whole continent of Amer- 
ica, and to the very shores of the Polar Sea; and al- 
ready, in our time, the opening of Lancaster Sound by 
Parry has extended the whale-fishery into that sound. 

But the knowledge that has resulted from these later 
voyages is not less valuable, less durable, or more evan- 
escent, nor can it be too highly appreciated. Let any 
one cast an eye only over the best charts of the north- 
ern regions, previous to the recent Arctic expeditions, 
and compare them with what they now are. Let him 
inquire what was then known or described of that Po- 
lar sea, or indeed of the whole northern shore of the 



INTRODUCTION'. 21 

American continent, and the answer will be, a blank ; 
which, however, he will now find filled up. Let him 
ask what was the value or amount of the geographical 
and physical knowledge then possessed of the regions of 
the globe within the Arctic circle, and the reply would 
be, little or nothing.; whereas the objects of Nature 
which the late voyages have furnished to the British 
Museum and other depositories are numerous and nov- 
el. Let any one turn over that extraordinary collection 
of engravings and descriptions of subjects in eveiy de- 
partment of natural history, filling up no less than four 
large quarto volumes, whose general titles are as under : 

1. The Fauna Boreali- Americana. — Quadrupeds; 

2. The Fauna Boreali- Americana. — Birds; 

3. The Fauna Boreali-Americana. — Fishes ; 

4. The Fauna Boreali-Americana. — Insects ; 
containing from three to five hundred pages each, and 
all brought forward by, and under the superintendence 
of, Dr. Richardson, the fellow -traveler of Sir John 
Franklin, and the man to whose energy, courage, and 
skill Sir John has declared that he and the whole party 
owe their safety and their lives. Let these accessions 
to general knowledge have only their due weight, and 
they will then be duly appreciated. 

The value of the scientific observations and discover- 
ies made in these Arctic voyages, independent of all na- 
tional and selfish considerations, is duly appreciated on 
the continent of Em*ope and in America. It is, perhaps, 
not generally known that the late voyage toward the 
South Pole, under the command of Captain (now Sir 
James) Ross, had no other object but the advance- 
ment of science and general information regarding the 
Antarctic regions of the globe ; and that among the first 
subjects to be attended to was that of making a series of 
observations on terrestrial magnetism, a subject which 
has of late years assumed so important a character, by 
its influence on the globe, that the government of Great 
Britain, ever ready to take the lead in matters connected 
with science, has been induced to establish magnetic ob- 
servatories in several of its colonies, distant from each 
other ; and, by influence and example, has prevailed on 
other powers to do the same, the object being to conduct 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

simultaneous observations, at given stated times, in all of 
them. Those of Great Britain are sent to Lieutenant- 
colonel Sabine, who has kindly undertaken to reduce 
them systematically.* When Franklin's expedition was 
decided on, Colonel Sabine was asked whether magnet- 
ic observations made on the Polar Sea, and registered 
in the same manner as in the colonial observatories, would 
not be of service ? His reply was, " That he has no hes- 
itation in saying that the attempt to make the northwest 
passage would render the most important service that 
now remains to be performed toward the completion of 
the magnetic survey of the globe." I shall only add here 
that the President and Council of the Royal Society, 
Sir Edward Parry, and Captain Beaufort strongly ap- 
prove of the existing, and perhaps the last, attempt to 
make the passage through the Polar Sea into the Pa- 
cific. But what says Sir John Herschel, when speak- 
ing of the atmospheric pressure in cold climates ? " This, 
with the magnetic survey of the Arctic seas, and the not 
improbable solution of the great geographical problem 
which forms the chief object of the expedition, will fur- 
nish a sufficient answer to those, if any there be, who re- 
gard such voyages as useless. Let us hope and pray 
that it may please Providence to shield him (Franklin) 
and his brave companions from the many dangers of their 
enterprise, and restore them in health and honor to 
their country." 

To those who are disposed to doubt the expediency, 
" if any there be," of the present voyage under Sir John 
Franklin, I shall state one additional motive for having 
adopted it, which is this : that to have abandoned any 
farther attempt to fulfill an object which has never ceased 
to occupy the attention of the British government since 
the days of our Elizabeth, and more especially, at this 
particular time, to have left it to be completed by a for- 
eign navy, after the doors of the two extremities of the 
passage had been thrown open by the ships of our own, 
would have been little short of an act of national suicide ; 
or, to say the least of it, an egregious piece of national 
folly. In personal courage the British navy has long held 

* The observations made at Toronto have already been reduced and 
printed with an admirable and well-written preface by the colonel, 



INTRODUCTION. 28 

a proud pre-eminence in time of war, and numbers of 
her officers have no less distinguished themselves, in 
times of peace, for moral courage and mental fortitude. 
It would, therefore, have been an unpardonable omission 
to have suffered any paltry financial considerations to 
have interfered with the employment of a couple of 
small barks for the attainment of an object of such im- 
portance. 

Let those, then, who may be disposed to quarrel with 
the existing expedition on the score of expense, be as- 
sured that, in putting it forth, it was not overlooked that, 
at the moment, there were two foreign fleets in the Pa- 
cific, belonging to the only two naval powers likely to 
engage in the enterprise under consideration, and to ei- 
ther of whom it would afford a moral triumph to ac- 
complish what we had begun but shrunk from complet- 
ing. This is no chimera. The shortest passage for 
any of the homeward-bound ships of these two powers 
now in the Pacific is through the Polar Sea. 

Franklin is now on his voyage, and whether he suc- 
ceeds in making good the passage or not, nothing, I am 
most certain, will be wanting on his part, or on that of 
his gallant comrades, to accomplish all that human means 
and human intellect ean command. In the sentiments 
with which this brave, veteran seaman closes the narra- 
tive of his second Polar voyage I most cordially concur, 
as I am inclined to think most of those who read it will 
likewise do : 

" Arctic discovery has been fostered principally by Great 
Britain ; and it is a subject of just pride that it has been pros- 
ecuted by her from motives as disinterested as they are en- 
lightened; not from any prospect of immediate benefit to 
herself, but from a steady view to the acquirement of useful 
knowledge, and the extension of the bounds of science. 
Each succeeding attempt has added a step toward the com- 
pletion of northern geography ; and the contributions to nat- 
ural history and science have excited a general interest 
throughout the civilized world. It is, moreover, pleasing tc 
reflect that the loss of life which has occurred in the prose- 
cution of these discoveries does not exceed the average num- 
ber of deaths in the same population at home under eircum 
•stances the most favorable. And it is sincerely to be hoped that 
Crreat Britain will not relax her efforts until the question of 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

a northwest passage has been satisfactorily set at rest, or, at 
least, until those portions of the northern shores of America 
which are yet unknown be laid down in our maps ? and 
which, with the exception of a small space on the Asiatic 
continent eastward of Shelatskoi Noss, are the only intervals 
wanting to complete the outline of Europe, Asia, and Ameri- 
ca."— P. 319. 

And I can not but feel a proud gratification, which I 
am sure is shared by every true Englishman of whatev- 
er rank in society, in the perusal of the following honest 
and manly sentiments with which Captain" Sir Edward 
Parry closes the narrative of his third voyage into the 
Arctic seas ; 

" Happy as I should have considered myself in solving this 
interesting question, instead of still leaving it a matter of. 
speculation and conjecture ; happy shall I also be if any la- 
bors of mine, in the humble, though it would seem necessary 
office of pioneer, should ultimately contribute to the success 
of some more fortunate individual ; but most happy should I 
again be to be selected as that individual. May it still fall 
to England's lot to accomplish this undertaking ; and may she 
ever continue to take the lead in enterprises intended to con- 
tribute to the advancement of science, and to promote, with 
her own, the welfare of mankind at large ! Such enterprises, 
so disinterested as well as useful in their object, do honor to 
the country which undertakes them, even when they failt 
they can not but excite the admiration and respect of every 
liberal and cultivated mind ; and the page of future history 
will undoubtedly record them as every way worthy of a 
powerful, a virtuous, and an enlightened nation." — P. 1SS. 



COMMANDER JOHN ROSS 



25 



CHAPTER II. 
COMMANDER JOHN ROSS. 

1818. 



A Voyage of Discovery in his Majesty's ships Isabella and 
Alexander for the purpose of exploring Baffin's Bay, and 
inquiring into the probability of a Northwest Passage. 
By John Ross, K.S., Commander. 

The two ships appropriated to this service were the 
Isabella, 385 tons, and the Alexander, 252 tons, com- 
manded, officered, and manned as under : 

Isabella. 

John Ross, Commander, com 
manding the Expedition. 

William Robertson, Lieutenant. 

William Thorn, Purser. 

John Edwards, Surgeon. 

C. J. Beverley, Assist. Surgeon. 

J. M. Skene, Adm. Midshipman. 

J. C. Ross, do. do. 

J. Bushnan, Midshipman and 
Clerk. 

Benj. Lewi3, Master and Green- 
land Pilot 

Thos. Wilcox, Mate and Green- 
land Pilot. 
10" Officers. 



3 Carpenter, Sailmaker, Cook. 

4 Leading Men. 
3L Able Seamen. 

6 Marines. 
54 Whole complement 

Supernumeraries. 
1 Captain Sabine, Royal Artillery. 
1 Sergeant do. 

1 Esquimaux, Saccheous, or Sack- 
house. 
57" Total on board. 



Alexander. 

W. E. Parry, Lieutenant com- 
manding. 

H. P. Hoppner, Lieutenant 

W. H. Hooper, Purser. 

Alexander Fisher, Assistant Sur- 
geon. 

Ph. Bisson, Adm. Midshipman. 

John Nias, do. do. 

John Allison, Greenland Master. 

Joseph Phillips, do. Mate. 

James Hulse, Clerk. 
~9~ Officers. 

3 Carpenter, Cook, Sailmaker, 

3 Leading Men. 
17 Able Seamen, 

5 Marines. 
37 Whole complement 



When looking out for proper persons to command the 
intended expedition, Sir George Hope, who had been 
flag-captain to Sir James Saumarez, and then a Lord of 
the Admiralty, recommended Commander Ross as an ac- 
tive and zealous officer, and well practised in the ordina- 
C 



26 ARCTIC VOYAGED 

ry duties of the seaman's profession. The ordinary du- 
ties of a good seaman are well known ; that he can hand, 
reef, steer, and heave the lead, keep the dead reckoning, 
and take and work an observation for the latitude ; how 
much beyond this Sir George does not appear to have 
pledged himself. Indeed, Ross states somewhat mod- 
estly, in his introduction, " My nautical education has 
taught me to act, and not to question ; to obey orders as 
far as possible, not to discuss probabilities, or examine 
philosophical or unphilosophical speculations. I have 
here attempted nothing beyond the journal of a seaman ; 
if I had done more, I might have done worse." 

Now something beyond the general character given 
by Sir George Hope was required from an officer who 
ventured to accept the command of an expedition for the 
purposes of enlarging the wide field of science and dis- 
covery, and moreover for that of a peculiar discovery ; 
one that had baffled the skill of the most able and perse- 
vering navigators for a period at intervals of more than 
three hundred years. It has been truly observed, that 
" this is a service for which all officers, however brave 
and intelligent they may be, are not equally qualified ; it 
requires a peculiar tact, an inquisitive and persevering 
pursuit after details of fact, not always interesting, a 
contempt of danger, and an enthusiasm not to be damped 
by ordinary difficulties." 

In fact, Commander Ross's services, previous to this 
voyage, were only adapted — as Sir George Hope, and, 
indeed, he himself has stated them — to qualify for the 
ordinary duties of a good seaman ; but least of all, as 
will be seen, for conducting a voyage of discovery. 
"In the year 1786," he says, "I entered the royal 
navy ; continued in it for four years ; was in the mer- 
chant service till 1794 ; in the East India Company's 
service till 1799 ; then returned to the navy ; acting 
lieutenant of the Weasel, of the Clyde, &c. Went 
with Lord de Saumarez as midshipman, often acting 
iieutenant, but ranked only as midshipman ; confirmed 
as lieutenant in 1805 ; served as first lieutenant in three 
different ships ; promoted commander in 1812, and 
commanded three different ships."* He might have 

* His examination before a Select Committee of the House of Com- 
raons on the Arctic Sea Expedition. 



COMMANDER JOHN ROSS. 27 

added, never served out of the Baltic and the White 
Sea, except once, on the north coast of Scotland. 

Now it may broadly be stated that Commander Ross, 
by his own showing, did not at all answer the descrip- 
tion of an officer fitted for the present service ; and his 
acts and his book prove it. His patron who recom- 
mended him was himself a thorough-bred seaman, an 
honest, straight-forward, and downright* officer, and 
sincerely believed, no doubt, that the person he named 
was an active and zealous officer " in the ordinary duties 
of his profession;" but there is reason to believe that, in 
offering him the command of a Voyage of Discovery, 
he had not given due consideration to the qualifications 
that such a command required. 

Lieutenant Parry, who commanded the Alexan- 
der, served several years on the coast of North America, 
where he was distinguished as an excellent navigator, 
theoretical as well as practical. He drew up a little 
treatise, especially for the use of the young officers of 
the fleet, on nautical astronomy, containing directions 
for finding the principal fixed stars visible in the northern 
hemisphere. A copy of this, with the necessary draw- 
ings, being sent to his father, Dr. Parry, of Bath, he 
had it printed. While employed in America, led by a 
spirit of enterprise, he volunteered for, and was appoint- 
ed to, the Congo expedition under Captain Tuckey, but 
fortunately could not join in time. Still, however, his 
attention was drawn toward African discovery, and 
about the close of 1817 he wrote to a friend, detailing 
his views on the subject; and just as he had finished his 
letter, a paragraph in a newspaper, alluding to the at- 
tempt about to be made for the discovery of a northwest 
passage, caught his eye, and he added a postscript, re- 
ferring to this, and said " he was ready for hot or for 
cold" — Africa or the Polar regions. His friend took this 
letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty,f which Parry 
says he had reason to believe was the immediate cause 

* The word reminds one of a very significant sobriquet on Admiral Sir 
James Saumarez, Flag-Captain Sir George Hope, and the Ship's Captain 
Dumaresq — the three designated as up-right, down-right, and never-right. 

t Mr. Barrow, who was so much pleased by the letter, and the little 
treatise which accompanied it, that he at once submitted to Lord Melville 
his opinion, that he was just the man for such an appointment, 



28 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

of his appointment to that expedition, then preparing for 
the latter object. 

Lieutenant Parry, it may safely be said, did not dis- 
appoint the expectations of those who recommended 
him ; but he was himself grievously disappointed at the 
manner in which the voyage in question was conducted, 
and at the total want of facilities given for collecting such 
a body of observations on various subjects of scientific 
inquiry, of geographical information, and, above all, at 
the careless manner in which every attempt, or, rather, 
want of attempt, was slurred over to fulfill the instruc- 
tions of government. Owing to this, instead of being 
able, on their return to England, to produce any results 
worthy of the liberality with which the expedition had 
been fitted out, there was not an officer in either ship 
that did not express mortification and disappointment. 

Lieutenant Robertson was an active and intelli- 
gent officer, a good observer and surveyor ; and Lieu- 
tenant Hoppner, son of the artist, an excellent 
draughtsman. One of the midshipmen, J. C. Ross, a 
young man of the most active and willing disposition, 
has subsequently been employed in every Arctic expe- 
dition, commanded the recent Antarctic voyage of three 
years, and is now Captain Sir James Clarke Ross, mar- 
ried, and enjoying the fruit of his valuable and highly 
praiseworthy labors. His name will frequently occur. 

Captain Sabine, of the Royal Artillery, well known 
for his scientific acquirements, and for the knowledge 
and use of mathematical and astronomical instruments, 
being desirous of the opportunity of putting his skill into 
practical experience, was requested to join the expedi- 
tion as a volunteer, and, like the rest, had but too much 
cause to be disappointed and aggrieved. An account of 
his subsequent and valuable labors, however, will here- 
after find a place in the present narrative. 

It would have been more agreeable, in the outset of 
the present volume, to have passed over this first voy- 
age of discovery in the Arctic regions, than to be obliged 
to notice it under a feeling of disappointment, which the 
perusal of it so unavoidably and so provokingly creates ; 
but as it constitutes the first link in the chain of 4;he 
interesting publications in question, it could not with 



COMMANDER JOHN ROSS. 29 

propriety have been omitted, though it can afford little 
pleasure to pass censure where there is every desire to 
praise. In matters of fact, however, like the present, 
the truth must be spoken ; and it may be proper and 
only due justice to state at once that no blame can pos- 
sibly attach to any individual in the two ships for any 
misstatements, negligence, or lack of information which 
may occur in the original narrative ; that all appear to 
have been anxious to effect whatever could be accom- 
plished to meet the views of government, as far as the 
few opportunities given to them would allow. At the 
same time, it is possible that some of the omissions may 
have happened from a misconception of what was re- 
quired of the commander, and from the novelty of the 
service, in the nature and peculiar duties of which he 
had now obviously for the first time been engaged ; and 
it is so far due to him to admit, farther, that the appoint- 
ment was not of his own seeking, but was voluntarily 
offered to him by one who, it would seem, was as little 
acquainted with the peculiar service as was Mr. Ross 
himself. 

On the 18th of April the ships left the river, arrived 
at Lerwick on the 30th, and on the 1st of June were 
somewhere on the eastern side of Davis's Straits ; pro- 
ceeded slowly between the ice and the western shore of 
Greenland, passing a number of whale ships busily em- 
ployed, and on the 17th of June got intoWaygat Strait, 
in which were forty-five whalers detained by the ice. 
This strait is formed between the shore of Greenland 
and the Island of Disco, on which is a Danish settle- 
ment. In this neighborhood, among the points of land, 
the shoals, and islands that abound, the ships were so 
hampered with ice, that it was not until the 3d of July 
they reached the Women's Islands. 

Their detention, however, did not lack amusement. 
The half-caste sons and daughters of Danes and Esqui- 
maux danced Scotch reels on the deck of the Isabella 
with the sailors ; and Ross says : 

" Backhouse's mirth and joy exceeded all bounds, and with 
good-humored officiousness he performed the office of mas- 
ter of the ceremonies. An Esquimaux master of the ceremo- 
nies to a ball on the deck of his majesty's ships in the icy 
C 2 



30 ARCTIC VOYAGES* 

seas of Greenland was an office somewhat new, but Nash 
himself could not have performed his functions in a manner 
more appropriate. It did not belong even to Nash himself 
to combine in his own person, like Jack, the discordant qual- 
ifications of seaman, interpreter, draughtsman, and master of 
ceremonies to a ball, with those of an active fisher of seals 
and a hunter of white bears." — P. 55-6. 

This intelligent and amiable Esquimaux, Jack Sac- 
cheous (or Sackhouse), affords a strong example of 
what a little kindness and attention will effect on human 
beings, even in the lowest scale of existence. Of the 
history of this young man there will be occasion to speak 
hereafter. 

On the fitting out of the present expedition, Captain 
Basil Hall, finding that Saccheous had a wish to join it, 
made his desire known at the Admiralty, and he was 
accordingly appointed interpreter, in which capacity he 
proved exceedingly useful in the very limited opportu- 
nity that occurred of holding any communication with 
his native countrymen. Among the mirthful group be- 
fore mentioned, Ross tells us : 

" A daughter of the Danish resident, about eighteen years 
of age, and by far the best looking of the group, was the ob- 
ject of Jack's particular attentions; which being observed by 
one of our officers, he gave him a lady's shawl, ornamented 
with spangles, as an offering for her acceptance. He present- 
ed it in a most respectful and not ungraceful manner to the 
damsel, who bashfully took a pewter ring from her finger 
and presented it to him in return ; rewarding him, at the same 
time, with an eloquent smile, which could leave no possible 
doubt on our Esquimaux's mind that he had made an impres- 
sion on her heart." — P. 56. 

After some delay the wind changed, and the ice be- 
gan to separate, leaving an opening along the coast ; but 
Jack, who had gone on shore with his countrymen, had 
not returned. A boat was therefore sent to bring him 
off ; but the poor fellow was found in one of the huts 
with his collar-bone broken, having, under the idea, as 
expressed by himself, of "plenty powder, plenty kill," 
overloaded his gun, and the violence of the recoil had 
caused the accident. 

In proceeding northernly, the expedition came up with 



COMMANDER JOHN ROSS. 31 

several groups of whalers that had passed through the 
floes of ice, in one of which it was also shortly after 
beset, in latitude 75° 35', " the Dexterity whaler now 
alone continuing in sight." Yet, in the same page, Ross 
says, " We are now arrived at a point between which 
and Cape Dudley Digges land had not been seen by for- 
mer navigators ;" as if whale-fishers were excluded from 
the class of navigators. He then goes on to say, that 
" between latitude 75° 12' and 76° the shore formed a 
capacious bay, in the midst of which rose a remarkable 
spiral rock ; this I named Melville's Monument, in grate- 
ful remembrance of the late viscount, from whom I 
received my first commission. To the bay itself I gave 
the name of Melville's Bay, from respect to the present 
First Lord of the Admiralty. It is situated between 
75° 12' and 76°, and abounds with whales, many of 
which were taken by the ships that were persevering 
enough to follow us." 

And no doubt numbers of whalers, for ages before 
this, had persevered in their search of whales far be- 
yond the latitude of 76° ; but the expedition being one 
for the purpose of discovery, something new, it would 
seem, was to be struck out at this early period, while 
on the Greenland side of Baffin's Bay — a coast which 
could afford nothing connected with the Polar Sea or 
with the northwest passage. In point of fact, Ross, on 
the outset of the voyage, even in the title-page, mis- 
states (he could not mistake) the object of his instruc- 
tions. He says the voyage was made " for the purpose 
of exploring Baffin's Bay." Now there is not a word 
in the instructions about exploring Baffin's Bay ; he 
was to stand well to the northward before crossing over 
to the westward, but not to stop on either coast : " the 
first and most important object of this voyage is to be 
the discovery of a passage through Davis's Straits, 
along the northern coast of America." On the western 
coast there could be no passage into the Polar Sea, nor 
toward the coast of America. 

Opportunely, however, an event occurred which af- 
forded him an occasion, if not an excuse, for delay. On 
the 10th of August eight sledges, drawn by native Es- 
quimaux, were observed advancing toward the place 



32 4UCTIC VOYAGm. 

where the ships were at anchor, and Saccheous was dis- 
patched with a white flag and some presents to hold a 
parley with them, they being placed at one side of a ca- 
nal or chasm in the ice, and he on the other side. After 
loud shouts, words, and gestures, Saccheous soon per- 
ceived that their language was the same as his, but of a 
different dialect, and, holding up his presents, he called 
out, " Come on ;" but the reply was, " No, no ; go 
away." And one of them, approaching the edge of the 
canal, repeated, " Go away ; I can kill you," holding up 
a knife. Saccheous threw over an English knife, say- 
ing, " Take that." This they picked up, shouted, and 
pulled their noses. Saccheous, in return, called out 
Heigh-yaw ! pulling his nose with the same gesture. 

This pulling of noses, which is represented to be their 
mode of a friendly salutation, is a trite matter of little 
moment, and would not be mentioned here but for the 
singular circumstance, which has been told by several of 
the officers, and in print, that they never saw nor heard 
of it till it was mentioned by Commander Ross, for the 
first time, at Shetland, on their return home. It is scarce- 
ly possible that such a foolish ceremony, if frequently 
and solemnly repeated, could have escaped the notice 
of all the officers except that of the commander ; yet 
there must be something in it, for Back, in his Arctic 
journey, mentions rubbing of noses as an Esquimaux 
salutation. 

The following is somewhat curious, considering the 
number and frequency of whalers visiting this part of 
the coast, where no doubt much intercourse must have 
taken place between them and the innocent natives : 
Ross says they soon became more familiar, and, point- 
ing to the ships, eagerly asked, " What great creatures 
these were ? Do they come from the sun or the moon ? 
do they give us light by night or by day ?" repeating the 
question, "What were they ?" to which Saccheous re- 
plied, " They were houses made of wood." They re- 
sponded " No : they are alive ; we have seen them move 
their wings." More enlightened than these Arctic High- 
landers (for so Ross calls them) did the messengers of 
Montezuma, on the arrival of the ships of Cortez, in like 
manner eagerly inquire, 



"COMMANDER JOHN ROSS* 33 

'* What divine monsters, oh ye gods, are these, 
That float in air. and fly upon the seas ! 
Come they alive or dead upon the shore ?"* <fcc. 

Saccheous, it seems, succeeded at last, " by many ar- 
guments, to persuade them that he was flesh and blood ;" 
and the most courageous " ventured to touch his hand, 
then pulling himself by the nose, set up a shout, in which 
he was joined by Saccheous and three others." But 
enough of this, which runs through eighteen or twenty 
pages, followed by a whole chapter of twenty more, 
which, considered under all circumstances, would be 
amusing enough, did it not prepare the reader for suspi- 
cion as to its accuracy, as well as of many other state- 
ments subsequently recorded in the book. The titles of 
this extraordinary chapter are : " The Situation of the 
Arctic Highlands — Nature of the Country — Produce of 
■the Country — Language of the Arctic Highlanders — 
Origin of the Arctic Highlanders- - Dress — Description 
— Subject of Religion — Mode of Lining, and Customs — 
Habits and Customs." Ross, indeed, suspects that this 
account "may appear in some points to be defective;" 
he may safely satisfy himself that it will not only ap- 
pear, in some points, to be defective, but will be so pro- 
nounced in all : in point of fact, he never set his foot on 
shore, and could not, by any possibility, have known any 
thing of the stuff he has set down, which is of that kind 
of manufacture not worth the paper on which it is print- 
ed. Most readers will agree with the writer in a pop- 
ular journal, who calls it " a bill of fare like that of the 
landlord in the play — all the good things are stuffed into 
the bill, while nothing is found in the larder." 

Ross may certainly plead examples without number, 
In the books of modern travelers, wherein imagination 
has very materially assisted in supplying the details ; but 
something approaching to fact is expected in a voyage 
like the present, as any deviation, even in a trifling sub- 
ject, is apt to throw a doubt on those of greater moment. 
No doubt, however, can be entertained of the discovery 
of a physical object (not new, however) found on the 
cliffs of this part of the coast of Baffin's Bay, not far 
from Cape Dudley Digges. "We now discovered," 

* Dry den's Emperor of Mexico. 



34 ARCTIC VOYAGES'. 

says Ross, " that the snow on the face of the cliffs pre- 
sented an appearance both novel and interesting, being 
apparently stained or covered by some substance which 
gave it a deep crimson color. This snow," he adds, 
" was penetrated even down to the rock, in many places 
to a depth of ten or twelve feet, by the coloring matter." 
Mr. Fisher says, " It is worthy of remark, that this col- 
oring matter, be it what it may, does not penetrate more 
than an inch or two beneath the surface of the snow." 

Many conjectures, of course, were afloat concern- 
ing the cause of so unusual an appearance; but Ross 
says, " it was at once determined it could not be the 
dung of birds ;" rather a hasty conclusion, for Mr.T3rande 
the chemist, to whom it was first submitted on the re- 
turn of the expedition, for the purpose of being analyzed, 
having detected uric acid, pronounced it at once to be 
the excrement of birds. It was the general opinion of 
the officers, who examined it with the microscope, that 
it must be vegetable ; and in this opinion Dr. Wollaston 
concurred, after a minute examination both by the mi- 
croscope and chemical tests — yet he even had his doubts. 
Mr. Brown, the celebrated botanist, conjectured it might 
be derived from some of the algse, confervae, or tremellge 
( Tremella cruenta) ; the more probable, as the roots of 
the moss (a species of Polytricum), common on these 
cliffs, are deep scarlet — deep, indeed, must they be to 
sanction the outrageously exaggerated print of these crim- 
son cliffs, as colored in the volume. There is nothing 
new, however, in the discovery of red snow. Pliny and 
other writers of his time mention it; Saussure found it 
in various parts of the Alps ; Martin found it in Spitz- 
bergen, and no doubt it is to be met with in most alpine 
regions. 

A little farther on, the ships were visited by three 
other Esquimaux, from whom information was received 
that the iron part of their knives was found on a mount- 
ain in great masses, and that it was a part of the mount- 
ain ; that in other places it was found in solid pieces on 
the surface, and that they cut it off with hard stone. 
Ross, however, could not succeed in obtaining any of 
the masses; but a small piece, being examined in Eng- 
land, was found to contain the usual proportion of nickel 
met with in meteoric stones- 






COMMANDER JOHN ROSB. 35 

Having now passed Cape Dudley Digges, which Ross 
found to be a few miles to the southward of the situation 
in which Baffin has laid it down, Wolstenholme Island 
came in sight to the northward ; and, "as we were steer- 
ing for it with a fine breeze, and the sea almost clear of 
ice, we gave up all idea of communicating with the King 
of the Arctic Highlanders ; the hopes of attaining the 
grand object of the enterprise were now raised to such 
a height as to make that, which was considered so de- 
sirable but a few hours before, an object of no moment 
whatever." It was, indeed, quite time to think of the 
" grand object," and leave behind that " scr desirable 
one" — the king of a miserable taribe of Esquimaux — the 
year having advanced to the 18th of August, and the " en- 
terprise" being no farther advanced than to the western 
coast of Greenland, on which coast by no possibility could 
a passage be found. Something more, however, than 
the scanty geography, which Baffin alone has afforded 
us, would, no doubt, have been desirable even on this 
coast of Greenland. 

He tells us that Wolstenholme Sound was complete- 
ly blocked up with ice ; but if any faith is due to his 
own chart, he must have passed it at the distance of forty 
miles at least. " This sound," he says, " seemed to be 
eighteen or twenty leagues in depth ;" and if so, by his 
own account he must have seen the bottom of it, though 
that was a point distant from the ship at least a hundred 
miles ; but he had previously prepared his readers for 
a long sight, having assured them that, in these Arctic 
regions, they were often able to see land at an immense- 
distance ; and, farther, that " we have certain proof that 
the power of vision was extended beyond one hundred 
and fifty miles !" — (P. 143.) Thus he says, "We found 
the entrace to this inlet" (Wolstenholme, when forty 
miles off) " and the general form and appearance of the 
land to agree extremely well with the description given 
of it by Baffin." Meager enough, it must be confessed, 
is that of Baffin, yet it would require a very great stretch 
of confidence to believe that any part of Baffin's brief 
description could be seen at forty miles distance. The 
old navigator merely says, it is " a fair sound, having an 
island in the midst, making two entrances, having many 



36 ARCTIC VOYAGEa. 

inlets or smaller sounds within it, and is a fit place for 
the killing of whales." 

Two hours after passing Wolstenh'olnie, they came 
opposite Whale Sound, and passed it at a greater dis- 
tance than the former ; but they could not approach it 
in a direct line on account of the ice. The same even- 
ing it is stated that, near Carey's Islands, " the sea was 
clearer of floes and loose ice than we had ever seen it." 
They had advanced about midnight of the 19th to the 
northern corner of Baffin's Bay, where Sir Thomas 
Smith's Sound opens out, and which Ross says " was 
distinctly seen," and he named the two capes forming 
its entrance after the two ships, Isabella and Alexander. 
" I considered," says Ross, "the bottom of this sound to 
be about eighteen leagues distant, but its entrance was 
completely blocked up by ice." He forgets that, by his 
own showing, he was never nearer than sixty English 
miles from the entrance of it. An able and honest tes- 
timony on this point is contained in a small tract pub- 
lished by Mr. Fisher, the assistant surgeon of the Alex- 
ander, an intelligent and active officer, who says that, 
being much interested in ascertaining whether Green- 
land and the west land joined, he kept the deck all day ; 
and though the weather was remarkably clear and fine 
till midnight, he could not see any such junction. " It 
is probable," he adds, " that the chasm or open space to 
the northward, where not any land could be traced by 
me, might be that which Baffin calls Sir Thomas Smith's 
Sound, and which he describes as the deepest and lar- 
gest sound in all this bay ; and it is not likely," says Fish- 
er, " that we should have seen the bottom of it at such 
a distance, as we estimate that we are twenty leagues 
from the northern extreme of the west land visible." 

As this sound is stated by Baffin to be the largest of 
all the sounds he discovered, and considering its position 
and its magnitude, it appears by no means improbable 
that it is a wide strait dividing Greenland from America, 
or the west land as Mr. Fisher calls it, thus verifying 
the dictum given by Burleigh more than two centuries 
ago. Among the papers of this extraordinary man in 
the British Museum is one on the subject of a north- 
west passage to Cathaia, in his lordship's own hand- 



COMMANDER JOHN ROSS. 37 

writing, which begins thus : " Considering Groynelande 
is well known to be an islande, and that it is not con- 
joyned to America in any part, and that there is no 
cause of doubte but that upon the north of Baccalaos 
the seas are open,"* &c. 

But Baffin's account of Sir Thomas Smith's Sound; 
brief as it is, ought to have induced Ross to look into it ; 
more especially as he voluntarily announces the expe 
dition to be "for the purpose of exploring Baffin's Bay.' 
Baffin only says, " It runneth to the north of 78°, and 
is admirable in one respect, because in it is the greatest 
variation in the compasse of any part of the known 
world ; for by divers good observations I found it to be 
above five points, or fifty-six degrees, varied to the west- 
ward." But the strongest reason that should have op- 
erated on Ross's mind was the possibility of this sound 
being a wide strait, opening directly into the Polar Sea, 
and affording the shortest passage through it to Behring's 
Strait — a discovery that would have immortalized him. 
He was at full liberty to use his discretion. Speaking 
of Davis's Strait, his instructions say : 

" In the present state of uncertainty with regard to the 
movements of the ice, and with the very imperfect knowl- 
edge we have of this strait, and still more so of the sea be- 
yond it, no specific instructions can be given for your guid- 
ance : the time and manner of proceeding to fulfill the ulteri- 
or object of your destination, in places where impediments 
may occur, must be left entirely to your discretion, in the ex- 
ercise of. which we rely on your zeal and skill in your pro- 
fession for the accomplishment, as far as it can be accom- 
plished, of the service on which you are employed. "t 

On rounding the northern and turning down the west- 
ern coast, after passing the entrance of Sir Thomas 
Smith's Sound, Mr. Fisher asserts, and appeals to the 
log of the Alexander to prove it, that " no land was seen 
to the northward in that direction." One of the officers 
declares that he saw the sun at midnight through the 
opening of the sound in question, just skimming above 
the horizon. These are powerful grounds for believing 
that Burleigh did not make the assertion at random, 
" that Greenland was well known to be an island." 

* Lansdowne Collection. t Admiralty Instructions. 



38 ARCTIC VOYAUES. 

Of the remaining sound of Baffin, which he names 
Alderman Jones's Sound, all we learn from Ross is, 
that " it answered to the description of Alderman Jones's 
Sound given by Baffin, who discovered it." " We were 
near the entrance of Jones's Sound," says Captain Sa- 
bine, " but not so near as Baffin, who sent his boat on 
shore." So might Commander Ross have done, who 
remained there from the 21st to the 23d, when, " to- 
ward evening," he says, " we successively made out the 
north and south points of the land across the bottom of 
this bay or inlet; at midnight a ridge of very high 
mountains was seen to extend nearly acrossi;he bottom 
of it, and joining another from the south ; on the 24th 
we had a still better view of the land about Jones's 
Sound :" but still no boat was sent on shore on any of 
these four days. 

It has been thought right to notice the total want of 
any information, in addition to that obtained by Baffin, 
respecting his discovery of these several sounds, as he has 
called them ;* and the more so, after reading the follow- 
ing extraordinary paragraph in Commander Ross's Intro- 
duction, which can only have been penned from want of 
knowledge of the subject : " In rediscovering Baffin's 
Bay, I have derived great additional pleasure from the 
reflection that I have placed in a fair light before the 
public the merits of a worthy and able navigator, whose 
fate, like that of many others, it has not only been to 
have lost, by a combination of untoward circumstances, 
the opportunity of acquiring during his lifetime the fame 
he deserved, but, could he have lived to tins period, to 
have seen his discoveries expunged from the records of 
geography, and the bay with which his name is so 
fairly associated treated as a phantom of the imagina- 
tion." 

Every person at all acquainted with voyages of dis- 
covery knows that Baffin was not only a skilfull naviga- 
tor, but so well versed in nautical astronomy as to be 
able to deduce the longitude from lunar observations 
Whether, as pilot only to Robert Bylot, this last voyage 
was not exactly to his mind, and was therefore more 
vaguely and unsatisfactorily recorded than any of his 

* Probably from their affording soundings for ships to anchor in. 



COMMANDER JOHN ROSS. 39 

others, his account of it is undoubtedly unlike the pre- 
ceding narratives of his voyages. Baffin is so much 
aware of this, that, in his letter to Mr. John Wolsten- 
holme, he observes, " Some may object and aske why 
we sought that coast no better?" to which he alleges in 
answer, the badness of the weather, the loss of anchors, 
the weakness of the crew, and the advanced season of 
the year. But as to the expunging his discoveries from 
the records of' geography, the groundless assertion is 
itself no more than " a phantom of the imagination." 
Purchas excuses himself for not publishing his chart 
and tables on account of the expense ; but expunging 
his discoveries is a discovery of Commander Ross, and 
there let it remain.* 

Hitherto Ross had carefully avoided approaching any 
of these sounds within forty, fifty, or sixty miles, and 
-consequently could not, or did not, send a boat to look 
into any of them, and yet he boasts of exploring and 
having rediscovered Baffin's Bay. However, in pro- 
ceeding down the western coast, and the weather being 
foggy, he found himself unawares nearer to the shore 
than was supposed, and perhaps wished ; in fact, he 
was just at the mouth of the only remaining, and by 
far the largest and most remarkable, as well as, from its 
position, the most important sound or opening of any 
that had been seen on either coast i this was what 
Baffin has called Sir James Lancaster's Sound. There 
was here, at least, no ice to choke it up ; none in the 
vicinity of it ; the soundings without it are marked 1000 
fathoms ; within it, 660 to 674 fathoms : no appearance 
.of any bottom was here pretended to have been seen, 
and altogether it was utterly impossible, on any pretence, 
•to avoid entering it ; and the ships therefore stood in. 

As this sound or bay has afforded the means of pretty 
well settling Commander Ross's reputation as a discov- 
erer or explorer, it is fair to give him the full benefit of 
his own aceount of it : 

" During this day (30th of August) much interest was ex- 
cited on hoard by the appearance of this strait; the general 

* Pilkimgtonhad the impertinence to call Baffin an impostor, but all that 
was ever known and published of Baffin's discoveries have been pre- 
served. 



40" ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

opinion, however, was that it was only an inlet. Captain 
Sabine, who produced Baffin's account, was of opinion thaS 
we were off Lancaster Sound r and that there were no hopes 
of a passage until we should arrive at Cumberland Strait ; to 
use his own words, there was ' no indication of a passage,' ' no 
appeai-ance of a current,' ' no drift-wood,' and ' no swell 
from the northwest.' " — P. 171. 

In the first place, it may be observed, that Baffin never 
entered Lancaster Sound, and, it may therefore be pre- 
sumed, never gave any account of it. The rest must be 
altogether, and can not be otherwise than a misstate- 
ment. Captain Sabine might observe, merely as a fact, 
that no current or drift-wood appeared, which Ross, by 
a. strange mistake, fancied he was ordered to search 
for, and constantly kept talking about; but those who 
know Captain Sabine, and are acquainted with his greafc 
talents, his love for science, and his zeal in pursuit of it, 
will be slow to believe any thing of the kind to have 
..proceeded from him. But even were it possible he 
should have given utterance to an opinion for which he 
had no grounds, as no human being of any country, 
ancient or modern, is known ever to have entered this 
sound, is it not surprising that an officer of the navy-, 
intrusted with the command of an expedition of discov- 
ery, should quote, as it were, in his own justification,, 
and be guided by the opinion of an artillery officer, who 
perhaps was at sea for the first time ? What, in fact, 
eould Captain Sabine then know of either Lancaster 
Sound or Cumberland Strait, except, as to the latter, 
that it was well known to lead only to a parcel of islands, 
and that Fox's Channel, Southampton Island, the Wel- 
come, all must be passed before the coast of America 
could be approached by that route ? A brief account 
of the expedition, by an officer engaged in it, was pub- 
lished in a monthly journal, and is pronounced by Cap- 
tain Sabine to be " a well-written and, which is more 
important, a faithful account of the proceedings of the 
expedition." In this account, so praised, it is stated, 
among other matters relating to Lancaster Sound, that 
" eveiy officer and man, on the instant, as it were, made 
up his mind that this must he the northwest passage.'''' 
And it is added, " I firmly believe that every creature 



COMMANDER JOHN ROSS. 41 

on board anticipated the pleasure of writing an overland 
dispatch to his friends, either from the eastern or west- 
em shores of the Pacific." 

But to return to Commander Ross's narrative : 

" Soon after midnight the wind began to shift ; I therefore 
made all sail, and left the Alexander considerably astern. 
At a little before four o'clock A.M. the land was seen at the 
bottom of the inlet by the officers of the watch ; but before I 
got upon deck, a space of about seven degrees of the com- 
pass was obscured by the fog. The land which I then saw 
"was a high ridge of moimtains, extending directly across the 
bottom of the inlet. Although a passage in this direction 
appeared hopeless, I -was determined completely to explore 
it, as the wind was favorable, and therefore continued all 
sail. I sounded, and found six hundred and seventy-four 
fathoms. There was, however, no current. Although all 
hopes were given up, even by the most sanguine, that a pass- 
age existed, and the weather continued thick, I determined 
to stand higher up, and put into any harbor I might discov- 
er, for the purpose of making magnetical observations. . . . 
About one, the Alexander being nearly out of sight to the 
eastward, we hove to for half an hour to let her come up a 
little ; and at half past one, she being within six or seven 
miles of us, we again made sail. I intended to have sound- 
ed during this interval, but I found the southeast swell had 
so much increased, and the drift was so great, that it was 
impracticable." — P. 172-174. 

In Lieutenant Parry's private journal it is said, " The 
swell comes from the northwest, compass (that is, south- 
southwest true), and continues just as it does in the ocean. 
It is impossible to remark this circumstance without 
feeling a hope that it may be caused by this inlet being 
a passage into a sea to the westward of it." A happy 
and rational hope that, within twelve months, Parry had 
the good fortune to realize. But to continue farther 
extracts from Ross on this part of the voyage : 

" At half past two (31st August), when I went off deck to 
dinner, there were some hopes of its clearing, and I left or- 
ders to be called on the appearance of land or ice ahead. 
At three the officer of the watch, who was relieved to Ins 
dinner by Mr. Lewis, reported, on his coming into the cabin, 
that there was some appearance of its dealing at the bottom 
of the bav ; I immediately, therefore, went on deck, and soon 
D2 



42 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

afteivit completely cleared for about ten minutes, and I dis- 
tinctly saw the land, round the bottom of the bay, forming a 
connected chain of mountains with those which extended 

along the north and south sides At this moment I also 

eaw a continuity of ice, at the distance of seven miles, ex- 
tending from one side of the bay to the other, between the 
nearest cape to the north, which I named after Sir George 
Warrender, and that to the south, which was named after 
Viscount Castlereagh. The mountains which occupied the 
center, in a north and south direction, were named Croker's 
Mountains, after the Secretary to the Admiralty. The south- 
west corner, which formed a spacious bay, completely occu- 
pied by ice, was named Barrow's Bay, and is bounded on 
the south by Cape Castlereagh, and on the north by Cape 
Rosamond, which is a headland that projects eastward from 
the high land in the center. The north corner, which was 
the last I had made out, was a deep inlet ; and as it answered 
exactly to the latitude given by Baffin of Lancaster Sound, 
I have no doubt that it was the same, and consider it a most 
remarkable instance of the accuracy of that able navigator." 
—P. 174, 175. 

It was, indeed, a most remarkable instance of accu- 
racy in Baffin, which can be explained only by supposing 
him to have been gifted by Arctic vision of one hundred 
and fifty miles, without which he never could have got 
sight of Ross's North Corner from the sea, for he never 
came near even the entrance of Lancaster Sound, "there 
being," says this old and able navigator, " a ledge of ice 
between the shore and us." All this is deplorable 
enough, and it may be considered as not worth the 
while to dwell longer on this part of the narrative, or to 
notice " the accurate view of Baffin's Bay," and " the 
special chart of the land" — the putting about the ship, 
assisted by a whale-fisher, the only officer on deck — 
the sole spectators of Croker's Mountains and the vast 
barrier of ice, seen only by Mr. Lewis and James Haig, 
the leading man, while all the other officers were en- 
joying their dinner, and ignorant of what was going on, 
which is not the usual custom in a man-of-war when 
the ship is going about. 

Too glad to get out of Lancaster Sound, " It became 
advisable," says Ross, " to stand out of this dangerous 
inlet, in which we were embayed, being within it above 



COMMANDER JOHN KOSrf. 43 

eighty miles." Captain Parry and Captain Sabine both 
say thirty miles. Since the period of this dangerous 
inlet being navigated by Parry, not less than four times, 
it has been visited annually by whalers, without danger, 
and without molestation by the ice. Nay, Ross himself 
had the courage — can it be called " moral courage ?" — 
to revisit, some years afterward, this horrible spot in a 
miserable kind of ship, fitted out at the expense of a 
private individual for some purpose or other, which ship, 
however, he left frozen up at the bottom of Regent's 
Inlet, and, with great fatigue and difficulty, succeeded 
in getting back to Lancaster Sound, and had the good 
luck to be picked up, in this " dangerous inlet," by a 
whaler — the very identical Isabella which he once com- 
manded. 

The unsatisfactory manner in which he hastened out 
of Sir James Lancaster's Sound, and ran past the Alex- 
ander, without the least communication with Lieutenant 
Parry, seems to have drawn from him a strange sort of 
something that he probably conceived to be a justifica- 
tion of his proceedings : 

" As I have given a particular chart of the bay or inlet 
which was explored between the 29th of* August and the 1st 
of September, by the expedition under my command, and as 
there will be found on the preceding pages copies of the 
meteorological logs of the two ships, which were supplied 
and corrected by the hydrographer of the Admiralty, from 
the official documents which were lodged in his office on 
the arrival of the ships, it must be unnecessary for me to re- 
capitulate the facts which I have already stated, as, by re- 
ferring to these authenticated documents, they will be seen 
by inspection. But it may not be amiss to point out the 
parts in my official instructions, which are printed in the be- 
ginning of this work, wherein I am directed to pay particu- 
lar attention to the currents, and to be guided by them ; and 
also to the part which recommends me to look for the north- 
east point of America, or, in other words, the northwest pass- 
age about the seventy-second degree of latitude. As it-was 
fully proved that no current existed in this inlet, which we 
had just explored, or to the northward of it, it naturally fol- 
lowed that I should have supposed myself still to the north- 
ward of ■■the current, which had been so confidently asserted 
to exist ; and that, therefore, this inlet was not the place to 
persevere in forcing a passage, but that there was reason to 



44 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

expect it would be found farther south. My orders, ' to stand 
well to the north,' had already been fully obeyed, and no 
current had been found ; and if ' a current of some force' did 
exist, as from the ' best authorities' we had reason to believe 
was the fact, it could be nowhere but to the southward of 
this latitude. As, in my instructions, I am also directed ' to 
leave the ice about the 15th or 20th of September, or, at lat- 
est, the 1st of October,' I had only one month left for my op- 
erations, in which month the nights are long, and, according 
to a fair calculation, not more than two days' clear weather 
out of seven could be expected. It may, therefore, with pro- 
priety be stated that I had only eight days remaining to ex- 
plore the remainder of Baffin's Bay, a distance of above four 
hundi-ed miles. Of this space nearly two hundred miles had 
never been examined ; a range including the supposed place 
of the discontinuity of the continent, and that to which my 
attention had been particularly called, and where the imagi- 
nary current, which was to be my -guide, was to be expect- 
ed. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to add that, under these cir- 
cumstances, I was anxious to proceed to the spot where it 
must be evident I had the best chance of success. Yet my 
anxiety, on the other hand, to leave no part of the coast un- 
explored, even after all hopes of a passage were given up, 
determined me to persevere as I did, notwithstanding there 
was no current, a material decrease in the temperature of 
the sea, and no drift-wood, or other indication of a passage, 
until I actually saw the barrier of high mountains, and the 
continuity of ice, which put the question at rest. That I did 
so persevere became afterward a source of great satisfaction, 
as I was fortunate enough to succeed also in exploring every 
part of the coast to the southward to which my attention was 
to be directed, and where I was led to expect that the cur- 
rent was to be found. This was a much more essential part 
of my duty than the making of magnetical observations, 
which was the only inducement still remaining to linger in 
that dangerous bay, where much time might have been wast- 
ed in attempting to land, perhaps without success, or, at any 
rate, without attaining any adequate results. My opinions 
were mentioned to several of the officers after I had deter- 
mined to proceed to the southward, and also to Captain Sa- 
bine, who repeated on every occasion that there was no in- 
dication of a passage." — P. 182-184. 

This can only be looked upon as a pitiable excuse for 
running away home, and is a most clumsy perver- 
sion of his instructions, the obvious meaning of which 
he has not only misconceived, but misquoted. A spe- 



COMMANDER JOHN ROSS. 45 

cies of infatuation, with regard to currents, appears to 
have seized on his mind ; he is forever hunting for, but 
never gets scent of, a current. The Lords of the Ad- 
miralty had merely suggested that if he should meet 
with a current, which, " from the best information" (not 
authorities, as he quotes) " we have been able to ob- 
tain, runs from the northward toward the upper part of 
Davis's Strait." And again, " In passing up the strait" 
{of Davis), " if such a current should be discovered, it 
will be of the greatest importance to you, as leading you 
direct to the opening by which it may be supposed to 
pass from the Arctic Sea into Davis's Strait." Again, 
" If it should come from the northwest or west, it will 
prove the best guide you can follow to lead you to the 
discovery of which you are in search."* His failure in 
the discovery of this imaginary current is so far a re- 
flection on his sagacity, as every navigator, both before 
and after his time, who has entered Davis's Strait has 
experienced a current of considerable force setting down 
that strait ; and it is now known that the water of the 
Polar Sea passes through several channels, and down 
the Sea of Spitzbergen into the Atlantic. 

On taking leave of Lancaster Sound on the 31st of 
August, and proceeding homeward along the same coast, 
the following day Ross sent a boat on shore, in a small 
bay near Cape Byarn Martin, with orders " to take pos- 
session of the country, in the name and on behalf of 
his Britannic majesty," with the usual silly ceremony 
— the more silly when the object is worthless, as in the 
present case — a barren, uninhabited country, covered 
with ice and snow, the only subjects of his majesty, in 
this portion of his newly-acquired dominions, consisting 
of half-starved bears, deer, foxes, white hares, and such 
other creatures as are commonly met with in these 
regions of the globe. Lieutenant Parry had command 
of the shore party, and obtained what are said to be 
" some valuable specimens, and the officers of both ships 
were equally active and zealous." The whole of this 
coast, that is to say, from latitude 73° 37' to latitude 62° 
51/, down to Cumberland Strait, is peopled abundantly 
on the chart with great but unprolific names, chiefly 

• * Admiralty Instructions. 



46 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

from Scotland ; and, among the rest, the territory is di- 
vided into a couple of Scotch counties. That he did 
not obtain " a perfect geographical survey of this coast 
was" (as he says) " of the less importance, from its not 
being the main object of the expedition." A boat, how- 
ever, >vas once more sent to take possession of a small 
island, which was named Agnes's Monument ; and a 
large iceberg being seen about the distance of seven 
leagues from the said island, lieutenant Parry, Mr. 
Ross, and Mr. Bushnan, with a party, were dispatched 
to make observations of it and upon it. Having landed 
(if it may be so called) with some difficulty, they ascend- 
ed this iceberg, found the top flat, and a large white 
bear in quiet possession, who, not desirous to engage 
the invaders, quietly walked off to the opposite side, 
and gave a plunge into the sea over a precipice fifty feet 
high. Parry reported that he found this iceberg to be 
four thousand one hundred and sixty -nine yards long, 
three thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine yards 
broad, and fifty-one feet high, aground in sixty-one 
fathoms, and that it had nine unequal sides. 

On the 1st of October, when in latitude 62° 51', no 
land to the westward being in sight, Commander Ross 
had no doubt that the opening was Cumberland Strait — 
that strait which alone, of all others on this coast, afford- 
ed hopes of a passage. " However," the commander 
says, " we crossed the entrance of Cumberland Strait, 
and steered south-southeast ;" that is, we turned our 
backs upon it, left it unmolested, and steered direct for 
England; and Captain Sabine gave no sign, no indica- 
tion about currents and drift-wood, and swell from the 
northward ;* but Ross does give a reason, and a suffi- 
cient one, had he not spoiled it by a total misconstruc- 
tion, as usual, of his instructions. He says, " As the 1st 
of October was the latest period which, by my instruc- 
tions, I was allowed to continue on this service, I was 
not authorized to proceed up this strait to explore it." 
The real drift, intention, and meaning of the instruc- 

.* Without giving a direct contradiction to Commander Ross's state- 
ment regarding Captain Sabine's opinion of Lancaster Sound, it was 
thought better to leave that to Captain Sabine himself, to deal with as he 
might think proper. 



COMMANDER JOHN ROSS. 47 

tions are, that, after giving up all farther search for a 
passage, as he had now done, he was not to remain in 
Davis's Strait so long as to be caught in the ice, and 
obliged to winter on any part of the eastern coast of 
America or the western coast of Old Greenland, but to 
leave the ice on the 20th of September or the 1st of 
October.* 

Without entering into any detail of scientific observa- 
tions made on this voyage, and collections for adding to 
the natural history of the Arctic regions, the several 
appendices, amounting to upward of one hundred and 
forty pages, will afford all the information gained, and 
which, though meager enough, considering the very 
limited and restricted means afforded by boats for the 
attainment of it, displays a considerable share of talent, 
attention, and industry by the several respective officers 
of both ships, who have given full proof how much more 
would have been accomplished had more frequent op- 
portunities been afforded to them. The names of indi- 
vidual observers and collectors are always given by the 
commanding officer of expeditions of tins nature ; that 
of Ross forms an exception. 

Commander John Ross was promoted to the rank of 
captain in December, 1818, on paying off the ships ; and, 
singular enough, no other officer appears to have been 
promoted, not even Parry, who commanded the second 
ship, and who was not only suffered to remain a lieu- 
tenant, but was sent out the following year, with two 
ships under his command, on a similar expedition, still 
as lieutenant, with instructions addressed to " Lieuten- 
ant "William Edward Parry, commanding." 

Among the little irregularities of Commander Ross, 
it can not escape notice that he addresses all his letters 
and orders issued during the voyage, and unnecessarily 
printed in his book, as from John Ross, captain of the 
Isabella. His promotion to that rank on his return was 
easily acquired, being obtained by a few months' voy- 
age of pleasure round the shores of Davis's Strait and 
Baffin's Bay, which had been performed centuries ago, 
and somewhat better, in little ships of thirty to fifty 
tons. It is a voyage which any two of the Yacht Club 

* Admiralty Instructions. 



48 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

would easily accomplish in five months,- and during that 
time might run far enough up Sir Thomas Smith's 
Sound to ascertain the insularity, or otherwise, of Old 
Greenland. There are, among the members of that 
club, gentlemen sufficiently high-spirited to undertake 
to solve that national question, and prove the accuracy 
of old Burleigh, and thus remove a blot from the geogra- 
phy of Northern Europe, for a part of that division of 
the globe Greenland is now ascertained to be. There 
is nothing to be apprehended from the severity of the 
temperature. During the three or four months that 
the ships of the present voyage were in the Arctic seas, 
the thermometer never fell below 26|° ; the general 
average was between 35° and 37° : no deaths took place, 
and scarcely a day's illness. Parry, by anticipation, 
doubts not that a ship, provided with sufficient food, 
warm clothing, and fuel, " might winter in the highest 
latitudes we have been in without suffering materially 
either from cold or disease." He very soon proved it 
to be so. 

In taking leave of Ross, it may be stated that the ob- 
servations made on his strange conduct have relation 
only to his unfitness for conducting the voyage of dis- 
covery, where science and accuracy were indispensable. 
In practical seamanship it is understood and admitted 
that he is sufficiently well skilled, as may be inferred 
from Sir George Hope's recommendation, as well as 
from the nature of his early and various services in 
ships of war in the Baltic, in merchant ships, and in 
ships trading to the East Indies. 



CAPTAIN DAVID BUCHAN. 



49 



CHAPTER III. 
CAPTAIN DAYID BUCHAN. 

1818. 

A Voyage of Discovert/ toward the North Pole, performed in 
his Majesty's ships Dorothea and Trent, under the Com- 
mand of Captain David Buchan, 1818. To which is add- 
ed a Summary of all the early attempts to reach the Pacific 
by way of the Pole. By Captain F. W. Beechey, one of 
the Lieutenants of the Expedition. 
The two ships appropriated to this service were the 

Dorothea and the Trent, commanded, officered, and 

manned as under : 

Dorothea. 

David Buchan, Captain. 

Arthur Morell, Lieutenant. 

John Duke, Surgeon. 

John Jemiain, Purser. 

George Fisher, Astronomer. 

Charles Palmer, Admiralty Mate. 

Wm. J. Dealy, do. do. 

Wm. G. Borland, Assist Surg. 

Cyrus Wakeham, Clerk. 

Peter Bruce, Greenland Master. 

George Crawford, do. Mate. 

Thomas Hebron, Carpenter. 
12" Officers. 

43 Seamen and Marines. 
55 Total complement. 

Captain David Buchan was an active and enterpri- 
sing officer, who for several years had been accustomed 
to the navigation of the icy seas in the neighborhood of 
Newfoundland, and received his promotion to the rank 
of commander in 1816, for his zeal and good conduct on 
that station. He also made a land journey over ice and 
snow nearly across the island, in order to procure an in- 
terview with the native islanders, he being the first Eu- 
ropean that ever ventured to go among them. On his 
return from the present expedition, he was appointed in 
1820 to the Grasshopper, in which ship lie returned to 
Newfoundland, and served on that station till 1823, when 
he was promoted to the rank of captain. In coming 
4 E 



Trent. 

John Franklin, Lieutenant and 
Commander. 

Frederic Beechey, Lieutenant. 

William Barrett, Purser. 

Andrew Reid, Admiralty Mate. 

George Back, do. do. 

Alex. Gilfillan, Assist. Surg. 

William Castell, Clerk. 

George Fife, Greenland Master. 

George Kirby, do. Mate. 

James Bowden, Carpenter. 
1G~ Officers. 

28 Seamen and Marines. 
38 Total complement. ' 



50 AUC'YiC VOYAGED 

from India he was lost in the Upton Castle, a ship that 
was never heard of after the 8th of December, 1838. 

Lieutenant Franklin entered the navy in early- 
life as midshipman of the Porpoise, one of the ships em- 
ployed by Captain Flinders on the survey of the coasts 
of Australia, and was wrecked in her. Next in the Pol- 
yphemus as midshipman and master's mate, from 1801 
to 1 808, and was in the fleet with Nelson at- the battle 
of Copenhagen. He was next appointed acting-lieuten- 
ant in the Bedford; and was lieutenant of the Bellero- 
phon in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and also in the 
Bedford in the attack on New Orleans in 1815, where 
he commanded in the boats, was wounded, gazetted, and 
highly spoken of. He was promoted to the rank of cap- 
tain in 1822, on returning from his first land Arctic expe- 
dition. He was considered a good nautical surveyor, 
well versed in the use of instruments, and a thorough 
seaman. In 1821 he was made commander. 

Lieutenant Morell was promoted to the rank of 
commander in 1828, and appointed commander of the 
Tortoise store-ship at Ascension in 1844, where he 
now is. 

Lieutenant Frederic Beechey, the son of the 
eminent artist, went through his probation in the naval 
service with great credit. In 1806, at ten years of age, 
he entered Lord St. Vincent's flag-ship, and served in. 
various ships ; was engaged as mate in several actions ; 
and was in the Vengeur, and employed in the boats at 
the attack of New Orleans in 1815, and made lieutenant 
in that year. As might be expected, he was skillful as 
a draughtsman, which he practiced on the present voy- 
age with great success, a& the prints in his book testify. 
We next find him as lieutenant of the Hecla, in Parry's 
first voyage, in which he was fully employed as draughts- 
man and surveyor ; also in assisting in all the requisite 
observations. Being of an active and enterprising mind, 
he was next employed, in the years 1821 and 1822, to. 
survey and examine, in company with) his brother, the 
north coast of Africa, from Tripoli eastward, compre- 
hending the Greater Syrtis and Cyrenaica and the an- 
cient cities composing the Pentapolis. In January, 1825- 
he was appointed Gommandar of the Blus^om, desti 



CAPTAIN DAVID BUCHAN. 51 

for a voyage to the Pacific and Behring's Strait, with in- 
structions, among other things, to co-operate with the 
Polar land expeditions ; to keep the Blossom, however, 
in open water, and not to risk her being beset in the ice. 
Finding in Kolzebue Sound the sea clear of ice, all 
hands on board were most anxious to try for a northeast 
passage, but his instructions did not admit of it. He did 
all he could, which was, to send his master, Elson, in 
the decked lanch, in which he proceeded along the 
coast of America, until impeded by a neck of land run- 
ning to the northward, and encumbered with ice. In 
1827 Beechey was made captain, while on this service, 
in which he remained to the year 1828, and published a 
very clever book on the shores and islands of the Pa- 
cific. He has since been employed in various surveying 
duties, in which he has greatly distinguished himself, 
and has been for some years past, and still is, employed 
in conducting the survey of the coasts of Ireland, and the 
west coast and islands of Scotland. 

Charles Palmer and W. J. Dealt, then acting- 
mates, were promoted to lieutenants in 1821, and re- 
main still in the same rank. 

Andrew Reid was promoted at the same time ; went 
with Parry on his first and second voyages, and still re- 
mains on the list of lieutenants. 

George Back followed up the service from his first 
entry, but has been mostly employed on land expeditions, 
and has highly distinguished himself by his active, zeal- 
ous, and vigorous conduct, on various occasions of great 
difficulty and peril, having contributed mainly, and at the 
risk of his own life, to save those of his fellow-travelers, 
Franklin and Richardson. For these and other services, 
which will be pointed out, he was advanced to the rank 
of captain, and received the honor of knighthood. Com- 
pare the progress thus made, by adhering to the service, 
with the stationary position of his superior comrade in 
this present voyage, and the conclusion to be drawn is 
evident. 

George Fisher was employed on Parry's second 
voyage as chaplain and astronomer, and proved himself 
a valuable and useful officer : he is now chaplain and 
head master of the Greenwich Hospital Naval Schools. 



52 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

The narrative of this voyage comes forth under pecu- 
liar circumstances, and was not published until the year 
1843, twenty-five years after it was performed contem- 
poraneously with that under Commander Ross, who pro- 
ceeded to the northwest, while the destination of this 
was to the northeast. 

Its publication, as already stated, came out under dif- 
ferent circumstances from that of Ross. Commander 
Buchan, from ill health it is said, declined to bring out 
any account of the voyage — rather from immediate and 
active employment, it may be suspected ; but there was 
another reason, as we learn from Captain Beechey. 
" Captain Buchan abstained from publishing his own 
journal, from a feeling that the matter it contained was 
not of sufficient interest to engage the attention of the 
general reader;" and Beechey farther says, " I regret 
also that my immediate commander, Sir John Franklin, 
has not had leisure to attend to the publication of a voy- 
age in which he bore so conspicuous a part." He, too, 
it may be suspected, declined from a feeling of delicacy, 
so long as the commander of the expedition was living, 
and might consider the time gone by after his death. 
Lieutenant Beechey having preserved materials for ar- 
ranging into the shape of a journal at some future time, 
and having put them in order, submitted it to Captain 
Buchan, who returned it with this observation : That 
" all the most prominent features of the expedition were 
brought forward in perfect accordance with his views :" 
and he adds, " My only regret in not having published 
the proceedings of our attempt to reach the Pole, is the 
privation of making the public acquainted with my en- 
tire approbation of the conduct of the officers and sea- 
men I had the honor to command." 

"What delayed the appearance of the narrative of a 
voyage made in 1818 to the year 1843, Captain Beechey 
does not say ; it could not be diffidence of his talent for 
writing, as he had long before published a voyage in the 
Pacific and to Behring's Strait, a well- written volume 
of 700 pages. It appears, indeed, that the public would 
not have had the present work at all but for the persua- 
sion of a friend, who casually saw and read the manu- 
script when taking a little trip in the vessel he com- 



CAPTAIN DAVID BUCHAN. 53 

manded in the Irish Channel. This friend* found it to 
be interesting, and, as the produce of a voyage set forth 
by government, he advised him, and absolutely com- 
pelled him, as it were, to publish it, and for that pur- 
pose took it with him to London. It is a well-written 
and interesting narrative, disencumbered of the frequent 
recurrence of nautical remarks and observations, which 
are not always understood or relished by the general 
reader ; and it contains lively descriptions of the man- 
ners and habits of the various living creatures that 
abound on the shores of Spitzbergen, its seas, and isl- 
ands of ice ; and they are given in so clear and lucid a 
manner, without the technicalities peculiarly employed 
in the description of objects of natural history, that the 
book is suited for all classes, and may be recommended 
as a model for future voyagers. 

Though this expedition, like that of Ross, was a fail- 
ure in its main object, yet, unlike the other, it was not- 
owing to any want of exertion, zeal, or intelligence in 
the two commanders or officers ; on the contrary, the 
two ships were supplied with some of those who, in 
future voyages, so greatly distinguished themselves as 
to obtain the highest steps of promotion, and to receive 
honorary rewards. Need the names of Franklin and 
Back be mentioned ? 

The instructions directed that they were to make the 
best of then way into the Spitzbergen seas, where they 
should endeavor to pass to the northward, between 
Spitzbergen and Greenland, without stopping on either 
of their coasts, and use their best endeavors to reach 
the North Pole ; with a suggestion, that where the sea 
is deepest and least connected with the land, it will be 
found most clear of ice. Then instructions on objects 
of scientific inquiry on the voyage, and particularly on 
those to be noticed on and about the Pole, are carefully 
drawn up and in great detail, the latter par}, of which 
were unfortunately not called into practice. The other 
portions of a general nature appear to have been care- 
fully attended to and well described by Lieutenant 
Beechey, who introduces his reader into the Greenland 
Sea in noticing the interest taken by those who. for the 

* Mr. John Barrow. 

E2 



54 ARCTIC VOYAGE3. 

first time, witnessed the ship working its way among 
floating masses of ice, and who viewed the bright sun 
darting its oblique rays among them at midnight, con- 
veying to the eye, assisted by the imagination, and by 
the lights and shadows, the appearance of " architectu- 
ral edifices, grottoes, and caves, here and there glitter- 
ing as if with precious metals ;" so that, he says, " it 
was usual to deviate from nautical phraseology, and 
shape a course for a church, a tower, or bridge, or some 
similar structure, in the lumps of ice." 

So early as the 24th of May the expedition had 
reached Cherie Island, in latitude 74° 33', so called by 
Stephen Bennet, in 1603, on or near which the wal- 
ruses were so numerous, that not fewer than nine hun- 
dred or a thousand of those large animals were captured, 
in the short space of seven hours, by the crew of a sin- 
gle vessel. Of the habits and character of the walrus, 
Lieutenant Beechey gives, after frequent intercourse 
with them, a very interesting account. Their affection 
for their young, and their unflinching courage in de- 
fending them, are remarkable ; not more so their com- 
passionate conduct toward a wounded companion, whom 
they will never leave till carried off to a place of safety ; 
and even the young ones on such occasions will turn 
fiercely against the boats of the pursuers. Although 
one of these animals was brought alive to England in 
1608, as we learn from Purchas, yet it was but the 
other day that the British Museum could boast even of 
a stuffed specimen. Why should not the Zoological 
Society offer a price for a living one to keep the white 
bear company ? They could easily get one. A single 
instance will suffice to show the care and affection be- 
stowed on their young. 

" We were greatly amused by the singular and affectionate 
conduct of a walrus toward its young. In the vast sheet of 
ice that surrounded the ships there were occasionally many 
pools ; and when the weather was clear and warm, animals 
of various lands would frequently rise and sport about in 
them, or crawl from thence upon the ice to bask in the warmth 
of the sun. A walrus rose in one of these pools close to the 
ship, and, finding every thing quiet, dived down and brought 
up its young, which it held by its breast. -by pressing it with 
its flipper. In this manner it moved about' the pool, keeping 



CAPTA5N DAVID BU'v'HAK, 55 

m an erect posture, and always directing the face of the 
young toward the vessel. On the slightest movement on 
board, the mother released her flipper and pushed the young 
one under water; but, when every thing was again quiet, 
brought it up as before, and for a length of time continued to 
play about in the pool, to the great amusement of the sea- 
men, who gave her credit for abilities in tuition which, 
though possessed of considerable sagacity, she hardly merit- 
ed."— P. 80, 81. 

On the 28th of May, the weather being foggy and 
severe, with heavy falls of snow, the ships separated, 
and the Trent stood to the northward toward Magda- 
lena Bay, the place of rendezvous, along the edge of the 
main body of ice ; they met here, and seeing it impos- 
sible to penetrate the marginal line of the ice, and the 
season being very early, the commander determined on 
passing a few days in that bay, in which they anchored 
on the 3d of June. The ice was in the cove and upper 
part of the harbor, but was in a rapidly decaying state, 
and, on revisiting then' anchorage here in the beginning 
of August, it had entirely disappeared. Magdalena Bay 
is rendered conspicuous by four glaciers, the smallest 
two hundred feet above the sea, on the slope of a 
mountain. It is called the Hanging Iceberg, and seems, 
so Beechey says, as if a very slight matter would de- 
tach it from the mountain and precipitate it into the sea. 
The largest of the four extends two or three miles in- 
land : owing to the great rents in the surface, it has been 
named the Wagon- way, from the resemblance of the 
fissures to ruts made by wheels.. Several glaciers sim- 
ilar to those were observed near Bane's Gut, the largest 
about ten thousand feet in length by two or three hun- 
dred feet in perpendicular height. In the vicinity of 
these icebergs a strict observance of silence is necessary ; 
the explosion of a gun scarcely ever fails to bring down 
one of these masses. Mr. Beechey says that on two 
occasions they witnessed avalanches on the most mag- 
nificent scale. 

" The first was occasioned by the discharge of a musket at 
about half a mile's distance from the glacier. Immediately 
after the report of the gun, a noise resembling thunder was 
heard in the direction of the iceberg (glacier), and in a few 



56 ARCTIC VOYAGED 

seconds more an immense piece broke away, and fell head- 
long into the sea. The crew of the lanch, supposing them- 
selves beyond the reach of its influence, quietly looked upon 
the scene, when presently a sea arose and. rolled toward the 
shore with such rapidity, that the crew had not time to take 
any precautions, and the boat was in consequence washed 
upon the beach, and completely filled by the succeeding 
wave. As soon as their astonishment had subsided, they ex- 
amined the boat, and found her so badly -stove that it became 
necessary to repair her in order to return to the ship. They 
had also the curiosity to measure the distance the boat had 
been carried by the wave, and found it to be ninety-six feet." 
—P. 155, 156. 

In viewing the same glacier from a boat at a distance, 
a second avalanche took place, which afforded them the 
gratification of witnessing the creation, as it were, of a 
sea iceberg, an opportunity which has occurred to few, 
though it is generally understood that such monsters can 
only be generated on shore. 

" This occurred on a remarkably fine day, when the quiet 
ness of the bay was first interrupted by the noise of the fall- 
ing body. Lieutenant Franklin and myself had approached 
one of these stupendous walls of ice, and were endeavoring 
to search into the innermost recess of a deep cavern that was 
near the foot of the glacier, when we heard a report as if 
of a cannon, and, turning to the quarter whence it proceeded, 
we perceived an immense piece of the front of the berg slid- 
ing down from the height of two hundred feet at least into 
the sea, and dispersing the water in every direction, accom- 
panied by a loud, grinding noise, and followed by a quantity 
of water, which, being previously lodged in the fissures, now 
made its escape in numberless small cataracts over the front 
of the glacier."— P. 156, 157. 

After describing the disturbance occasioned by the 
plunge of this enormous fragment, and the rollers which 
swept over the surface of the bay, and obliged the Dor- 
othea, then careening at the distance of four miles, to 
aright, by releasing the tackles, he thus proceeds : 

" The piece that had been disengaged at first wholly dis- 
appeared under water, and nothing was seen but a violent 
boiling of the sea, and a shooting up of clouds of spray, like 
that which occurs at the foot of a great cataract. After a 
short time it reappeared, raising its head full a hundred feet 
above the surface, with water pouring down from all parts of 



CAPTAIN DAVID BUCHAN. 57 

it ; and then laboring as if doubtful which way it should fall, 
it rolled over, and, after rocking about some minutes, at length 
became settled. 

" We now approached it, and found it nearly a quarter of a 
mile in circumference, and sixty feet out of the water. Know- 
ing its specific gravity, and making a fair allowance for its 
inequalities, we computed its- weight at 421,660 tons. A 
stream of salt water was still pouring down its sides, and 
ther^ was a continual cracking noise, as loud as that of a cart- 
whip, occasioned, I suppose, by the escape of fixed (confined) 
air."— P. 157, 158. 

Mr. Beechey confirms what has frequently been found 
and noticed — the mildness of the temperature on the 
western coast of Spitzbergen, there being little or no 
sensation of cold, though the thermometer might be only 
a few degrees above the freezing point. The brilliant 
and lively effect of a clear day, when the sun shines forth, 
with a pure sky, whose azure hue is so intense as to 
find no parallel even in the boasted Italian sky, affords, 
in Mr. Beechey's opinion, a full compensation for the 
cloudy and misty weather, when the hills are clothed 
with new-fallen snow, and all appears dreary and deso- 
late. The radiation of the sun, he observes, in some 
sheltered situation, is so powerful during two hours on 
either side of noon, that they frequently observed the 
thermometer upon the ice in the offing at 58°, 6*2°, 67° ; 
and once at midnight it rose to 73°, although in the 
shade at the same time it was only 36°. Hence are 
found varieties of Alpine plants, grasses, and lichens, such 
as in the more southern aspects flourish in great luxuri- 
ance : they are here found ascending to a considerable 
height, "so that," says Beechey, "we have frequently- 
seen the reindeer browsing at an elevation of fifteen hun- 
dred feet." 

On account of the mildness of the temperature, the 
shores of Spitzbergen are frequented by multitudes of 
animals of various descriptions. " From an early hour 
in the morning until the period of rest returned the 
shores around us reverberated with the merry cry of 
the little auk, willocks, divers, cormorants, gulls, and oth- 
er aquatic birds ; and wherever we went, groups of wal- 
russes, basking in the sun, mingled then* playful roar with 
the husky bark of the seal." The little auks or rotges 



58 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

(the Alca alle) are stated to be so numerous, that " we 
have frequently seen an uninterrupted line of them ex- 
tending full half way over the bay, or to a distance of 
more than three miles, and so close together that thirty 
have fallen at one shot. This living column might be 
about six yards broad and as many deep ; so that, allow- 
ing sixteen birds to a cubic yard, there would be four 
millions of these creatures on the wing at one time.'' — 
P. 46. 

This number, he adds, appears veiy large : yet, when 
it is told that the little rotges rise in such multitudes as 
to darken the air, and that their chorus is distinctly au- 
dible at a distance of four miles, the estimate will not ap- 
pear to be exaggerated. In fact, their numbers dwindle 
into a small figure when compared with Audubon's pass- 
enger-pigeon, on the banks of the Ohio, which, estima- 
ted on the wing at one time, he makes 1,115,000,000 
and upward. Too much confidence ought not to be 
placed on calculations such as these. 

At "Vogel Sang and Cloven Cliff, between which is 
Fair Haven, wherein the ships anchored, the surround- 
ing islands are described as clothed with lichens and oth- 
er rich pasturage for reindeer, which creatures are here 
so abundant (upon Vogel Sang in particular), that this 
island alone supplied the expedition with forty carcasses 
in high condition, the fat on the loins being from four to 
six inches thick, and a carcass prepared for dressing 
weighing two hundred and eighty-five pounds. These 
fine creatures showed evident marks of affection for each 
other. " They were at this time in pairs, and when 
one was shot the other would hang over it, and occa- 
sionally lick it, apparently bemoaning its fate ; and, if not 
immediately killed, would stand three or four shots rath- 
er than desert its fallen companion." " This compas- 
sionate conduct," continues Beechey, " it is needless to 
say, doubled our chance of success, though I must con- 
fess it was obtained in violation of our better feelings." 
These animals are said to take to the water freely, and 
swim from one island to another. The boats of the 
Trent took four, which they wished to retain alive ; but 
they were so wild that they broke their slender limbs, 
and inflicted other serious wounds, so that it became ne- 
cessary to put an end to their sufferings by killing them. 



CAPTAIN DAVID BUCHAN. 59 

At one of the islets near Vogel Sang were also the 
King Eider ducks, in such numbers that it was impossi- 
ble, almost, to walk without treading on their nests, which 
they defended with determined resolution. If driven off 
by foxes or other large animals, they hastily draw the 
down of the nest over the eggs, and glue it with a yeEow 
fluid, not only to preserve the warmth of the eggs, but 
that, being of so offensive a nature, the foxes would not 
touch the eggs tainted with it. Foxes and bears are 
everywhere found on the shore and on the ice ; and the 
sea about Spitzbergen is as much alive as the land, from 
the multitude of burgermesters, strontj aggers, malmouks, 
kittiwakes, and the rest of the gull tribe, while the am- 
phibious animals and the fish enliven both the ice and the 
water, from the huge whale to the minute clio on which 
it feeds, swallowing perhaps a million at a mouthful. In 
this respect of animal life, the Arctic regions of the globe 
essentially differ from those within the Antarctic Circle, 
where all appears to be stillness, silence, and solitude. 

On the 7th of June the ships left Magdalena Bay, 
and were hampered with fragments of ice, usually call- 
ed brash-ice, which, as they proceeded, became thicker 
and more solid, and, indeed, impenetrable ; but a breeze 
opened and dispersed it, and carried the ships into clear 
water. In going westerly they fell in with several 
whale ships, by which they learned that the ice in that 
quarter was quite compact, and that fifteen vessels were 
beset in it. Buchan, therefore, stood to the northward. 
They passed Cloven Cliff — a remarkable, isolated rock, 
which marks the northwestern boundary of Spitzbergen 
— and also Red Bay, when they were stopped by the ice 
closing the channel between it and the shore, and be- 
came firmly fixed. By great exertions, however, they 
got into the floe of ice, where they remained thirteen 
days, when the field began to separate, and to set to the 
southward, at the rate of three miles an hour, and the 
ships got into an open sea, where, however, they were 
not long permitted to remain, and took shelter in Fair 
Haven. 

Finding, from the view afforded by the hills, that the 
ice was driving to the northward, they again put to sea on 
the 6th of July, and sailed as far as 80° 15' N., where 



60 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

the same impenetrable barrier obstructed their farther 
progress. On the following day, however, sn rapid had 
been the motion of the ice during the night, that chan- 
nels of "water were observed in eveiy quarter, and the 
wind was favorable for proceeding along one of the 
open channels. Captain Buchan lost not a moment in 
pushing his ship into one of these openings, spreading 
every sail his masts would bear, and was cheerfully fol- 
lowed by his enterprising consort, to the great joy of all 
on board. In the evening, however, the channels began 
to close again, and the vessels were soon beset and press- 
ed close by the packed ice. This was the end of their 
voyage northward, and the latitude gained was 80° 34' 
N. In vain they labored two days in dragging the ves- 
sels with ropes and ice-anchors ; for, though they had left 
the ice behind them, the current had carried them back 
to the southward three miles, and it was clear that all 
attempts to get one mile farther to the northward would 
be vain. 

Captain Buchan being now satisfied that he had given 
the ice a fair trial in the vicinity of Spitzbergen, resolved 
on standing over toward the coast of Greenland. Hav- 
ing succeeded in getting the ships to the edge of the 
pack, and sailing along it, a violent gale of wind came on 
so suddenly that they were at once reduced to storm- 
staysails. The ice was setting fast upon them, and the 
Dorothea being nearest to it, in order to escape imme- 
diate shipwreck, it was deemed necessary to take refuge 
among it. The Trent followed her example, and dashed 
into the " unbroken line of furious breakers, in which 
immense pieces of ice were heaving and subsiding with 
the waves, and dashing together with a violence which 
nothing, apparently, but a solid body could withstand, 
occasioning such a noise that it was with the greatest 
difficulty we could make our orders heard by the crew." 
"No language," he says, "I am convinced, can convey 
an adequate idea of the terrific grandeur of the effect 
now produced by the collision of the ice and the tempest- 
uous ocean." 

But when the moment arrived that the strength of 
the little bark was to be placed in competition with that 
of the great icy continent, and doubts might reasonably 
have arisen of her surviving the unequal conflict, the 



CAPTAIN DAVID BUCHAN. 61 

crew preserved the greatest calmness and resolution. 
Captain Beechey says : 

" If ever the fortitude of seamen was fairly tried, it was as- 
suredly not less so on this occasion ; and I will not conceal 
the pride I felt in witnessing the bold and decisive tone in 
which the orders were issued by the commander of our little 
vessel (Franklin), and the promptitude and steadiness with 
which they were executed by the crew. Each person in- 
stinctively seemed his own hold, and, with his eyes fixed 
upon the masts, awaited in breathless anxiety the moment 
of concussion. It soon arrived ; the brig, cutting her way 
through the light ice, came in violent contact with the main 
body. In an instant we all lost our footing, the masts bent 
with the impetus, and the cracking timbers from below be- 
spoke a pressure which was calculated to awaken our serious 
apprehensions." — P. 123, 124. 

Captain Beechey proceeds to give a most formidable 
account of the state of the ship, accompanied by a ter- 
rific and well-executed print, descriptive of her situation. 
"Her motion," he says, "was so great that the ship's 
bell, which in the heaviest gale of wind had never struck 
of itself, now tolled so continually that it was ordered to 
be muffled for the purpose of escaping the unpleasant 
association it was calculated to produce." After a few 
hours the gale ceased, and the pack broke up sufficiently 
to release the ships, which were so disabled that the 
Dorothea was in a foundering condition. They made 
the best of their way to Fair Haven in a sinking state, 
where they repaired their damages as well as they 
could ; it was obvious, however, there was an end to 
any farther attempt as regarded the main object of the 
expedition. The Trent being the less damaged of the 
two, Lieutenant Franklin requested that he might be 
allowed to proceed alone in the execution of the service. 
This could not be acceded to, as, in the event which had 
occurred, Captain Buchan was directed by his instruc- 
tions to take command of the Trent, provided her con- 
sort was rendered unserviceable ; had he done so, the 
Dorothea, unaccompanied in her way home, might have 
risked the lives of her crew in a ship so shattered and 
unsafe. It was therefore decided that both should re- 
turn home ; and on the 30th of August they put to sea, 
and on the 22d of October arrived at Deptford. 
F 



62 



ARCTIC VOYAGES. 



CHAPTER IV. 
PARRY'S FIRST VOYAGE. 

1819, 1820. 



Journal of a Voyage for the Discovery of a Northwest Pass- 
age from the Atlantic to -the Pacific. By W. E. Parry, 
Commander of the Expedition. 

The two ships appointed for this service were the 
Hecla, a bomb of 375 tons, and the Griper, a large gun- 
brig of 180 tons, raised upon; and they were command- 
ed, officered, and manned as under : 

The Hecla. 
Wm. Edw. Parry, Lieut. Comnig. 
Capt. E. Sabine, Astronomer. 
F. W. Beechey, Lieutenant. 
John Edwards, Surgeon. 
W. H. Hooper, Purser. 
Alexander Fisher, Assist. Surg. 
Joseph Mas, ] 

Wm. J. Dealy, j 
Charles Palmer, > Midshipmen. 
Jas. Clarke Ross, 
John Bushnan, J 
James Hulse, Clerk. 
ET Officers. 

r Gunner, Boatswain, Carpenter, 
Greenland Master, Greenland 
I Mate, Cook, 4 Leading Men, 
16 ■{ Quarter Master, Gunner's Mate, 
Boatswain's Mate, Carpenter's 
Mate, Armorer's Mate, Sailmak- 
,er. 
22 Able Seamen. ■ 
8 Marines, including 2 Serjeants. 
58 Total on board. 

The most remarkable feature in this expedition is, 
that Lieutenant Parry, having been selected to the 
command of it for the purpose of carrying into effect the 
instructions which Ross, from misapprehension, indiffer- 
ence, or incapacity, had failed to do, should have been 
sent out as a lieutenant only, in which rank he contin- 
ued for nearly two years before he obtained that of 



The Griper. 
Matthew Liddon, Lieut. Coming- 
H. Perkyns Hoppner, Lieutenant. 
Chas. Jas. Beverley, Assist. Surg. 
Andrew Reid, ) ur ;AciV ,- n 

A. M. Skene, } M t^ V ' 

W. Nelson Griffiths, ) men - 
Cyrus Wakeham, Clerk. 
Officers. 

Warrant and Petty Officers. 
Able ~ 
Marines. 



36 Total on board. 



parry's first voyage. 63 

commander ; while the latter, for an unprofitable voyage 
of seven summer months, was advanced at once to the 
rank of captain — why, is best known to those who con- 
ferred it. Again : Lieutenant Parry proceeded on this 
second voyage of discovery with the rank or title only of 
lieutenant commanding, and did not obtain the next step 
till the 8th of November, 1820, being then absent. On 
the same day, and while in the service of the expedition, 
Lieutenant Liddon, his second in command, was also 
made commander, in which rank he still remains on the 
list of naval officers. 

Lieutenant Beechet's services have already been 
mentioned ; and Hoppner continued to serve as lieu- 
tenant in the Hecla on Parry's second voyage, and on 
the third was appointed commander of the second ship, 
the Fury. 

Nias and Reid were promoted to the rank of lieuten- 
ants on the second voyage, and served in Parry's ship. 

Skene, Ross, and Bushnan were in the first voyage, 
and so were Alexander Fisher, assistant surgeon, and 
James Hulse, clerk. 

There can be but one opinion as to the view in which 
the report of Captain Ross was considered by the Board 
of Admiralty, were it to be inferred only from the in- 
structions given to his successor, Lieut. William Edward 
Parry, in which the examination of the great and open 
bay, Sir James Lancaster's Sound, was ordered to be 
considered as the first and most particular ohject of his 
voyage ; and, moreover, not succeeding in that direction, 
to examine Aldercnan Jones's Sound and that of Sir 
Thomas Smith, neither of which had been examined, 
nor even entered, by the commander of the late expe- 
dition. 

The two ships ordered to be fitted out for this expe- 
dition — the Hecla, a bomb of 375 tons, and the Griper, a 
gun-brig — were taken into dock for repairs and strength- 
ening, and the Griper to be raised as early as the middle 
of December; and on the 16th of January, 1819, Lieu- 
tenant Parry was appointed to the command of the for- 
mer and of the expedition, and Lieutenant Liddon to the 
latter. The subordinate lieutenants of the two ships 
were, F. W. Beechey to the Hecla, and H. P. Hopp- 



64 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

ner to the Griper, both having served on the late expe- 
dition ; five midshipmen to the former ship, Nias, Dealy, 
Palmer, Clarke Ross, Bushnan ; and to the latter, three, 
Reid, Skene, and Nelson Griffiths. Captain Sabine, of 
the Royal Artillery, joined the expedition as astronomer, 
and to have charge of the magnetical observations to be 
made on the voyage. The Hecla had a surgeon, an 
assistant surgeon, and a purser ; the Griper an assistant 
surgeon and a clerk. The narrative of this voyage has 
supplied, for the interests of science and geography, 
numerous and important facts and observations, and, 
above all, has opened the door to the discovery of the 
main object, the Northwest Passage. " In this work," 
it has been said, " we find no display of self-importance, 
no attempt to deceive, or to throw dust in the eyes of 
the public ; no marvelous stories to disgust or confound, 
and make the ignorant stare ; no figures set down at 
random ; no chart-lines drawn ad libitum ; no repre- 
sentations of objects the mere fancies of the brain ; but, 
on the contrary, a plain statement of facts and occur- 
rences, and a detail of scientific observations, made with 
unimpeachable accuracy, and recorded in the clearest 
and most simple and unaffected language." 

On the 11th of May the ships left the river, and on the 
28th of June were about the middle of the entrance into 
Davis's Strait, proceeding to the northward along the 
edge of the ice, and between it and the western coast 
of Greenland, and on the 3d of July crossed the Arctic 
Circle, having on that day passed at least fifty icebergs of 
large dimensions ; and on the following day a more ex- 
tended chain of a larger size, against which a heavy 
southerly swell was violently agitated, " dashing the 
loose ice with tremendous force, sometimes raised a 
white spray over them to the height of more than one 
hundred feet, and, being accompanied with a loud noise 
exactly resembling the roar of distant thunder, presented 
a scene at once sublime and terrific." Between one of 
these icebergs and a detached floe, drifting with a south 
erly current, the Hecla had nearly, as the whalers call 
it, been " nipped," that is to say, squeezed flat. The 
berg was about one hundred and forty feet high, and 
aground in one hundred and twenty fathoms, so that its 
whole height probably exceeded eight hundred feet. 



i'AftfiY S Fl&ST Vo\ AGE, 65 

On the 21st the land called, by Davis, " Hope Sander- 
son," and also the " Woman's Island," vrere seen ; and 
"we found ourselves," says Parry, "in the midst of a 
great number of very high icebergs, of which I counted, 
from the crow's nest, eighty -eight, besides many smaller 
ones." 

Having now reached the latitude of 73°, and being 
unwilling to pass the latitude of Lancaster Sound, Parry 
determined to make an attempt to pass through the icy 
barrier in order to get into the open sea, which the ex- 
perience of the former voyage induced him to believe 
he should find on the opposite coast ; it took him, how- 
ever, seven days' sailing, tracking and warping occasion- 
ally, to get into open water, the width of the barrier 
being not less than eighty miles ; but the navigation 
among fields and floes of this kind is more tedious than 
dangerous. Having got into the open stream, the water 
here was found to have deepened so much that no bot- 
tom was obtained with three hundred and ten fathoms 
of line, no ice in any direction, and the temperature of 
the water had risen from 31° to 37°. Whales, too, 
were abundant, no less than eighty-two large ones being 
counted in the course of the day. 

Parry observes, that " if any proof were wanting of 
the value of local knowledge in the navigation of the Po- 
lar Seas, it would be amply furnished by the fact of our 
having now reached the entrance of Sir James Lancas- 
ter's Sound just one month earlier than we had done in 
1818, although we had then sailed above a fortnight soon- 
er, with the same general object in view, namely, to pen- 
etrate to the western coast of Baffin's Bay, where alone 
the northwest passage was now supposed to be sought 
for and found." He omits, however, one important 
cause of his early approach to Lancaster Sound — that of 
taking the shortest route, instead of circumnavigating 
Baffin's Bay. On the 31st a party landed at the spot 
they had visited the preceding year, when Lancaster 
Sound was abandoned. The flag-staff was still standing ; 
the ground free from ice or snow ; the marks of their 
shoes as fresh as if imprinted but a few days before — a 
circumstance which led Parry to conclude that little or 
no sleet or snow had fallen since his former visit. 
5 F2 



66 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

On the 1st of August the ships entered upon that por 
tion of the voyage which was to determine the success- 
or failure of the expedition — that magnificent piece of 
water called Sir James Lancaster's Sound. An easterly 
breeze and a crowd of sail carried the ships rapidly to 
the westward. On the morning of the 2d, it being calm, 
soundings were taken with the deep sea clams, and one 
thousand and fifty fathoms by the line were found ; but 
the drift being considerable on* account of the swell, Par- 
ry believes that the depth of water did not exceed eight 
or nine hundred fathoms. The sea was open before 
them, free from ice and land. Lieutenant Parry says, 

"It is more easy to imagine than to describe the almost 
breathless anxiety which was now visible in every counte 
nance, while, as the breeze increased to a fresh gale, we ran 
quickly up the sound. The mast heads were crowded by 
the officers and men during the whole afternoon; and an 
unconcerned observer, if any could have been unconcerned 
on such an occasion, would have been amused by the eager 
ness with which the various reports from the crow's nest were 
received, all however hitherto favorable to our most sangu- 
ine hopes." — P. 31. 

They were soon relieved from their anxiety respect- 
ing the supposed continuity of land, which had been stat- 
ed in the most peremptory manner to extend across the 
bottom of this magnificent inlet in which they were sail- 
ing; having reached the longitude of 83° 12', the two 
shores here, the north and south, were still thirteen 
leagues apart, without the slightest appearance of any 
land to the westward of them. They had now advanced 
to what Parry has called Barrow's Strait, previous to 
which, however, he had named a large opening on the 
northern shore Croker's Inlet, "being anxious to seize," 
says a waggish critic, "as it would seem, the earliest op- 
portunity of making some compensation for having trans- 
formed, as with a touch of Harlequin's wand, the mag- 
nificent and insuperable range of mountains which a for- 
mer expedition had assigned to one Secretary of the Ad- 
miralty, into a broad and uninterrupted passage, bearing 
the name of the other Secretary." " We now began to 
flatter ourselves," says Parry, " that we had fairly en- 
tered the Polar Sea, and some of the most sanguine 



67 

among us had even calculated the bearing and distance 
of Icy Cape, as a matter of no very difficult or improba- 
ble accomplishment." 

But in an icy sea, and more especially in narrow passa- 
ges interrupted by islands, great uncertainty must al- 
ways prevail. Having passed Barrow's Strait, a small 
island occurred, between which and the shore to the 
northward a floe of ice was found to extend. As this 
floe blocked up the passage to the westward, and they 
here noticed a large opening that appeared on the south- 
ern coast, Parry thought it better to proceed to the ex- 
amination of it than to remain for an indefinite period idle 
in the western passage. It was found to be ten leagues 
wide at the mouth, and no land visible in the line of its 
southern direction. He stood down an open channel of 
water on the eastern side along the edge of ice that oc- 
cupied the middle of the strait, and hopes were enter- 
tained that it might lead them nearer to the coast of 
America than Barrow's Strait, and if so, to a lower de- 
gree of latitude, in which it might be advantageous to 
make their passage to Behring's Strait. And as the in- 
let increased in width as they proceeded to the south- 
ward, it-was calculated to raise their hopes on this score ; 
but, to their great disappointment, the disappearance of 
land to the southwest, and its place supplied by a barrier 
of ice beyond which no water was in sight, determined 
Parry to return to Barrow's Strait. To the inlet he left 
he gave the name of Prince Regent, having entered it 
on his royal highness's birthday, the 12th of August. 
To a bay on its eastern shore he gave the name of Port 
Bowen. The latitude of the southernmost point. to which 
he had proceeded was 71° 53' 30", longitude, 90° 03' 
45", and the distance from its entrance about 120 miles. 
It had been observed that, from the moment they enter- 
ed Lancaster Sound, the motion of the compass-needle 
was very sluggish, and both this and its deviation increas- 
ed as they proceeded to the westward, and continued to 
do so in descending- this inlet. Having reached latitude 
73°, " they witnessed for the first time the curious phe- 
nomenon of the directive power of the needle becoming 
so weak as to be completely overcome by the attraction of 
the ship, so that the needle might now be said to point 
to the north pole of the ship." 



68 ARCTIC VOYAGED. 

It was the 19th of August before they again reached 
the northern shore of Barrow's Strait, and found the ice 
still remaining around Leopold's Islands, yet not impassa- 
ble ; but on that and the following day the weather was 
thick, and much snow had fallen. They now, on the 
21st, had the satisfaction of finding nothing to interrupt 
their progress to the westward. The sea was entirely 
free from ice, and " so perfectly clear, that it was al- 
most impossible to believe it to be the same part of the 
sea which, but a day or two before, had been complete- 
ly covered with floes to the utmost extent of our view." 
On the evening of the 22d, after passing several bays 
and headlands on the northern shore, they came before 
the month of a channel of more than eight leagues in 
width, looking up which, on a beautiful clear evening, 
neither land nor ice could be seen from the mast head. 
"To this noble channel," says Parry, " I gave the name 
of Wellington, after his grace, the master-general of the 
ordnance." 

" The arrival off this grand opening was an event for which 
we had long been looking with much anxiety and impa- 
tience ; for the continuity of land to the northward had al- 
ways been a source of uneasiness to us, principally from the 
possibility that it might take a turn to the southward, and 
unite with the coast of America. The appearance of this 
broad opening, free from ice, and of the land on each side of 
it, more especially that on the west, leaving scarcely a doubt 
on oui minds of the latter being an island relieved us from 
all anxiety on that score ; and every one felt that we were 
now finally disentangled from the land which forms the west- 
em side of Baffin's Bay ; and that, in fact, we had actually 
entered the Polar Sea. Fully impressed with this idea, I 
ventured to distinguish the magnificent opening, through 
which our passage had been effected from Baffin's Bay to 
Wellington Channel, by the name of "Barrow's Strait, after 
my friend Mr. Barrow, secretary of the Admiralty, both as a 
private testimony of my esteem for that gentleman and as a 
public acknowledgment due to him for hxs-'zeal and exertions 
in the promotion of. northern discovery." — P. 51, 52. 

He then pays the compliment of assigning to the 
capes, inlets, and groups of islands the names of Hotham, 
Barlow, and Cornwallis ; and goes on to say : 

" Though two thirds of the month of August had now elaps- 



parry's first voyage. 69 

ed, I had every reason to be satisfied with the progress we 
had hitherto made. I calculated upon the sea being still nav- 
igable for six weeks to come, and probably more, if the state 
of the ice would permit us to edge away to the southward in 
our progress westerly : our prospects, indeed, were truly ex- 
hilarating ; the ships had suffered no injury ; we had plenty 
of provisions ; crews in high health and spirits ; a sea, if not 
open, at least navigable ; and a zealous and unanimous deter- 
mination in both officers and men to accomplish, by all pos- 
sible means, the grand object on which we had the happi- 
ness to be employed." — P. 52. 

It is delightful to dwell upon such joyful hopes, pros- 
pects, and satisfaction as are expressed in the terms of 
this passage, and in the course of a voyage of so novel, 
so perilous, and so precarious a nature as this. It is a 
just and well-deserved compliment paid by a writer in a 
periodical journal, who says that, " after a most atten- 
tive perusal, we can confidently say, that few books since 
the commencement of our labors have afforded us more 
to praise or less to censure, and that not one has in- 
spired us with more respect for the character of its au- 
thor." 

The expedition continued to proceed westerly, but 
made only slow progress on account of the detached 
floes of ice and foggy weather. To the northward, as 
far as could be seen, the land was apparently composed 
of clusters of islands. To the westward the sea, for the 
most part, was covered with a compact body of ice, yet 
a channel was open for the ships between it and the 
shore. On reaching Sir Byam Martin's Island, the 
nearest to Melville Island, Captain Sabine and Mr. 
James Ross, accompanied by Messrs. Edwards and 
Fisher, were dispatched on shore to make the neces- 
sary observations, and to examine and collect specimens 
of the natural productions of the country. These offi- 
cers reported, on their return, that they landed on a 
sandy beach near the east point of the island, which 
they found to be more productive and altogether more 
interesting than any other part of the shores of the Polar 
regions that had yet been visited. Remains of Esqui- 
maux habitations were found in four different places ; 
some of them consisted of stones rudely planned in a 
circular form, and were from seven to ten feet in diam- 



70 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

eter ; traces of reindeer and musk-oxen were seen in 
many situations ; the ravines were covered with luxu- 
riant moss and other vegetation, the character of which 
differed very little from that at the bottom of Possession 
Bay. The basis of the island consisted chiefly of sand- 
stone, besides which were some rich granite and red 
feldspar. The latitude of the place of observation was 
75° 09' 23", and the longitude 103° 44' 37" ; the dip of 
the magnetic needle 88° 25' 58" ; and the variation was 
now found to have changed from 128° 58' W., in the 
longitude of 91° 48' (where the last observations on 
shore had been made), to 165° 50' 09" E., at their 
present station ; -' so that we had," says Parry, " in 
sailing over the space included between those two me- 
ridians, crossed immediately to the northward of the 
Magnetic Pole, and had undoubtedly passed over one of 
those spots upon the globe where the needle would have 
been found to vary 180°, or, in other words, where the 
North Pole would have pointed to the south." In point 
of fact, though from the weakness and sluggish perform- 
ance of the needles observations that required great 
nicety could not be depended on, yet Parry thinks that 
one of those spots he alludes to would at that time have 
been somewhere not far from the meridian of 100° W. 
of Greenwich. The " spot alluded to" was, of course, 
the Magnetic Pole, discovered eleven years after this by 
Commander James Ross, and which is only about two 
or three degrees "from the meridian of 100° W. of 
Greenwich." 

" It would undoubtedly have been extremely interesting 
to obtain such an observation, and in any other than the very- 
precarious navigation in which we were now engaged, I 
should have felt it my duty to devote a certain time to this 
particular purpose ; but, under present circumstances, it was 
impossible for me to regret the cause which alone had pre- 
vented it, especially as the importance to science of this ob- 
servation was not sufficient to compensate the delay which 
the search after such a spot would necessarily have occasioned, 
and which could hardly be justified at a moment when we 
were making, and for two or three days continued to make, 
a rapid and unobstructed progress toward the accomplish- 
ment of our principal object." — P. 62. 

It may now be said it was well he did not, as the spot, 



PARRY rS FIRST VOYAGE. 71 

since discovered by Commander Ross, was then, as it 
probably still is, unapproachable by such ships as those 
of Parry. 

On the 1st of September Parry inserts in his narra- 
tive a table showing a daily abstract of the monthly 
meteorological journals, consisting of columns indicating 
the temperature of the air and the sea, state of the 
barometer, prevailing winds, and prevailing weather ; 
and in this form a tabular series is repeated on the first 
of every month. From the one in question, it appears 
that the mean temperature in August was, in the shade, 
33° 67' ; on sea water, 31° 93'. It would be desirable 
that such a form should be kept and made imperative, 
at all times and in all places, on board every ship of war. 
The expedition continued its course westerly, among 
patches of ice and in a foggy atmosphere, giving names 
to small islands, bays, and headlands as they occurred ; 
and on the 4th of September, Parry observes : 

" We had the satisfaction- of (Crossing the meridian of 110° 
W. from Greenwich, in the latitude of 74° 44' 20", by which 
his majesty's ships under my orders became entitled to the 
sum of five thousand pounds, being the reward offered by 
the king's order in. Council, grounded on a late act of Par- 
liament, to such of his majesty's subjects as might succeed in 
penetrating thus far to the westward within the Arctic Cir 
<jle."— P. 72. 

To the bluff head, wherethe observation was made, 
the men gave the name of Bounty Cape, a very appro- 
priate name, after the gallant commander had announced 
to them officially that their exertions had so far been 
crowned with success as to entitle them to this reward. 

On the 5th of September, after having worked their 
way along the southern coast of the largest island of the 
group they had recently passed, the boats landed, for 
the second time, in a bay which, for its soundings and 
shelter, appeared the most safe and convenient that had 
occurred to anchor in ; and, accordingly, the Bay of the 
Hecla and Griper, so named by Parry, became the first 
spot where the expedition had dropped anchor since 
leaving the coast of Norfolk. Considering the advanced 
period of the year, it occurred to the commander that 
£his place appeared to mark, in a very decided manner, 



72 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

the completion of one stage of their voyage. " The en- 
signs and pendants were hoisted, and it created in us 
no ordinary feelings of pleasure to see the British flag 
waving, for the first time, in those regions which had 
hitherto been considered beyond the limits of the habi- 
table world." Parry gave to this large island the name 
of Melville, being that of the First Lord of the Admi- 
ralty. 

Parry determined, however, to extend their opera- 
tions for prosecuting discovery in these regions, though 
it became necessary to secure the ships eveiy night from 
ten till two o'clock, when it was too dark to keep under 
way, more especially as no trust whatever could be 
placed in the compasses. But his hopes were damped 
when, from the crow's nest, he perceived a compact 
body of ice extending completely in to the shore, near 
the point which formed the western extreme of the isl- 
and ; the ship ran, however, sufficiently close to be as- 
sured that no passage to the westward could then be 
effected, the floes being literally upon the beach, and 
not a drop of clear water visible beyond them. The 
shore was covered nearly with large masses of ice 
aground in four or five fathoms of water, of which they 
would have drawn at least ten if set afloat ; these masses 
the people were in the habit of calling bergs, but they 
were very different to those met with in Baffin's Bay, 
none of which kind were seen to the westward of Bar- 
row's Strait. The length of the night, when darkness 
prevailed in seas such as this, was little suited for pros- 
ecuting discoveries ; yet as September is considered the 
most valuable month in the year, on account of the sea 
being then more free from ice than at any other time* 
Parry states his strong conviction that the ultimate ac- 
complishment of the object must depend, in a great 
measure, on the farther progress to be made this sea- 
son, and therefore he determined to extend their opera- 
tions to the latest possible period. 

He soon, however, perceived that the season was at 
an end. On the 9th of September the floes of ice were 
observed to be sensibly approaching the shore, and mat- 
ters grew worse till the 12th, when the ships were ac- 
tually beset and in a perilous situation. There was no 



parry's first voyage. 73 

possibility of moving them ; a party, therefore, was sent 
on shore to collect coal, which had been discovered not 
far off. 

Another party, consisting of Mr. Fife, Greenland mate, 
and six men of the Griper, having been sent on shore, a 
heavy snow-storm came on, in which they lost then* 
way ; not appearing when night approached, other par- 
ties were sent out in search of them — no less than four ; 
and it was not till three cold days and more severe 
nights had passed away that they all got on board, most 
of them exhausted by cold and fatigue, and severely 
frost-bitten in then.' toes and fingers. A tempestuous 
night of six or seven hours of darkness, accompanied 
with stormy weather, without any shelter on the shore, 
made it expedient for them to endeavor to retrace then* 
steps to the eastward. Other parties were sent out, 
and several days were passed in great anxiety before 
the whole of them returned. 

About this time, the 14th of September, the change 
in the temperature was a very striking one, the mercury 
having descended as low as to 9° ; and from this day the 
commencement of winter might fairly be dated. The 
18th was a day of severe trial for the ships. Endeavor- 
ing to return along the land, the bay ice had become so 
thickened that, with the pressure of. the floes without, 
the ships were arrested in their progress, and unable to 
move a single foot ahead, and there was but too much 
reason to apprehend that they would be driven on shore, 
or forced by the floes against the heavy ice on the beach. 
From this time till the 20th of the month the perilous 
situation of the ships is minutely described, when on 
that day a large floe forced the Griper on shore, where 
she lay aground on the beach. At this time Lieuten- 
ant Liddon, who had recently recovered from a rheu- 
matic complaint, caused by the harassing circumstances 
of the last fortnight and the increased cold, which re- 
duced the mercury down to 15°, was brought to a very 
debilitated state. Parry, therefore, proposed to him to 
allow himself to be removed to the Hecla till the Griper 
was again afloat. To this proposal he would by no 
means listen, saying he should be the last man, instead 
of the first, to leave the Griper; and resolute in his 
G 



74 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

purpose, like a true British sailor, he remained seated 
against the lee-side of the deck, giving the necessary 
orders. 

The time was now more than arrived when the ships, 
if possible, should be got into winter quarters. A har- 
bor being pitched upon, and, on the 24th, the Griper 
having got afloat and joined, the two ships were secured 
in the proper position for commencing operations. A 
sailor is never at a loss for contriving and executing the 
means of overcoming such difficulties as few landsmen 
would venture to encounter. On the present occasion 
they cut a canal through the solid ice of the average 
thickness of seven inches, and completed it in three 
days, the whole length of which is stated to have been 
four thousand and eighty -two yards, or two miles and 
one third nearly. In the afternoon of the 26th the ships 
were hauled into their winter quarters, with three loud 
and hearty cheers from both ships' companies. 

" Having now reached the station where, in all probabili- 
ty, we were destined to remain for at least eight or nine 
months, during three of which we were not to see the face 
of the sun, my attention was immediately and imperiously 
called to various and important duties, many of them of a 
singular nature, such as had for the first time devolved on any 
officer in his majesty's navy, and might, indeed, be consid- 
ered of rare occurrence in the whole history of navigation. 
The security of the ships and the preservation of the various 
stores were objects of immediate concern. A regular system 
to be adopted for the maintenance of good order and cleanli- 
ness, as most conducive to the health of the crews, during 
the long, dark, and dreary winter, equally demanded my at- 
tention."— P. 101. 

The housing over the ships was one of the first con- 
siderations, being calculated to contribute to the comfort 
of the officers and men, as well as to the preservation of 
that extraordinary degree of health which had hitherto 
been enjoyed in both ships. Warmth and dryness of 
the berths and bed-places were the next important mat- 
ters to be secured, the thermometer having now fallen 
below zero. An iron box, or ah -vessel, with three 
tubes of two inches diameter communicating from be- 
low with the external ah, and uniting above with a met- 
al box, was so contrived as to convey the heated air to 



PARRY S FIRST VOYAGE. 75 

the men's berths ; and this apparatus, Parry says, with 
a moderate fire, produced a current of air of the temper- 
ature of 87° at the distance of seventeen feet from the 
fire-place. The quantity and quality of provisions were 
to be regulated, having regard to the preservation of 
health. An anti- scorbutic beer had been issued in lieu 
of a proportion of spirits ; but when the weather became 
extremely severe, the beer would not ferment so as to 
make it palatable. Eveiy attention was paid to the is- 
suing of fuel, to the article of proper clothing, and to the 
nature of the provisions and little luxuries to be distribu- 
ted. In short, the able and careful manner in which ev- 
ery article of ships' stores appears to have been dealt out 
to the men, and while judicious in quality, abundant in 
quantity, and, at the same time, economically administer- 
ed, gave satisfaction to all. Both men and officers were 
fully aware of the necessity there was to secure a sup- 
ply for the winter, and for the following season. But 
Parry, with right feeling and judgment, and, it may be 
added, with a knowledge of human nature, in order to 
obviate any approach to murmuring or despondency, 
adopted a measure admirably calculated for preventing 
them. 

" Under circumstances of leisure and inactivity, such as we 
were now placed in, and with eveiy prospect of its continu- 
ance for a very large portion of the year, I was desirous of 
finding some amusement for the men during this long and te- 
dious interval. I proposed, therefore, to the officers to get 
up a play occasionally on board the Hecla, as the readiest 
means of preserving among our crews that cheerfulness and 
good humor which had hitherto subsisted. In this proposal 
I was readily seconded by the officers of both ships ; and 
Lieutenant Beechey having been duly elected as stage-man- 
ager, our first performance was fixed for the 5th of Novem- 
ber, to the great delight of the ships' companies. In these 
amusements I gladly took a part myself, considering that an 
example of cheerfulness, by giving a direct countenance to 
every thing that could contribute to it, was not the least es- 
sential part of my duty, under the peculiar circumstances in 
which we were placed. 

" In order still farther to promote good humor among our- 
selves, as well as to furnish amusing occupation, during the 
hours of constant darkness, we set on foot a weekly newspa- 
per, which was to be called the North Georgia Gazette and 



76 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

Winter Chronicle, and of which Captain Sabine undertook 
to be the editor, under the promise that it was to be sup- 
ported by original contributions from the officers of the two 
ships: and though some objection may, perhaps, be raised 
against a paper of this kind being generally resorted to in 
ships of war, I was too well acquainted with the discretion, 
as well as the excellent disposition of my officers, to appre- 
hend any unpleasant consequences from a measure of this 
kind ; instead of which I can safely say that the weekly con- 
tiibutions had the happy effect of employing the leisure hours 
of those who furnished them, and of diverting the mind from 
the gloomy prospect which would sometimes obtrude itself 
on the stoutest heart." — P. 106, 107. 

Nothing more was wanting than such devices as these, 
resorted to in a moment of peculiar and extraordinary 
difficulty, to establish the character of Parry for ready 
and happy expedients, accompanied by a sound judg- 
ment, which thus kept alive the active powers of the 
mind, and prevented it from falling into a habit of inac- 
tivity and listlessness, and from sinking into that worst 
of all conditions, a state of morbid torpor. His plan was, 
as it could not well be otherwise, completely successful. 

Besides his editorship, Captain Sabine had abundance 
of employment of a very difficult and more important 
kind, the results of which are given in detail in the Ap- 
pendix, under the head of Magnetic Observations, Ex- 
periments on the Pendulum, and in the description of 
objects of Natural History. His first attention, on the 
arrival of the ships in their winter quarters, was the 
selection of a proper place for the observatory, which 
was erected on a convenient spot for communication with 
the ships, and also with a house built on the beach for 
the reception of the clocks and other instruments. The 
walls of this were of double plank, with moss between, 
so that a high temperature could be kept up in it with- 
out difficulty by a single stove. 

Hunting parties occasionally went out and procured a 
few reindeer; but a migration of these animals took 
place before the close of October, leaving behind them 
only wolves and foxes to keep the party company during 
the long winter months. Even the Polar hare, so com- 
mon in the Arctic regions, never once showed itself 
on Melville Island in the course of the winter. The 



PARRY S FIRST VOYAGE. 77 

musk ox (Bos moschatus), also very common, during its 
proper season, arrived on Melville Island in the middle 
of May, by crossing the ice from the southward, and 
quitted it by the same way on its return toward the end 
of September. On the 15th the last covey of ptarmi- 
gan was met with ; and on the same day were seen fif- 
teen deer, all lying down, except one large one, proba- 
bly a stag ; this, after the rising of the rest, seemed to 
guard the animals in their flight, frequently going round 
the herd, sometimes striking them with his horns to 
make them go on, which they appeared not much in- 
clined to do. Even seals were not found in this neigh- 
borhood ; but whales of different kinds were commonly 
met with : gulls and ducks, however, so numerous in 
Davis's Strait and the Georgian Islands, condescended 
not to visit Melville Island, but " two or three specimens 
of a caterpillar were obtained, one of which was brought 
to E ngland' ' — of course as an Arctic curiosity. One large 
white bear, having pursued Captain Sabine's servant to the 
ship, was shot at and wounded, but made his escape ; it 
was the only one met with during the stay of the party, 
but described as being more purely white than any they 
had before seen. A feeble willow, a saxifrage, lichens, 
and stunted grasses constitute pretty nearly the flora of 
Melville Island. 

This desolate and miserable island was destined to be 
the abode of our countrymen for nine to ten dreary win- 
ter months, during three of which, as they had been able 
to anticipate, the sun did not shed on them so much as 
one benign ray. No wonder, then, that not a single hu- 
man being was found to inhabit so repulsive a spot ; and 
it required no little consideration, on the part of the com- 
mander of the expedition, to find employment for the 
people under his command and protection, to preserve 
their health, and to ward oft* despondency for so long a 
period. The method hit upon by Lieutenant Parry had 
produced, to a great degree, an admirable effect. Yet 
something more was still required than the acting of 
plays and the writing and reading of gazettes. Both 
mind and body demanded exercise, as the only means 
of protection against disease, which a large share of leis- 
ure and a continued state of mental inactivity were but 
G2 



78 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

too sure to produce. The total privation of game of any 
kind afforded few excursions for the source of exercise 
and amusement which hunting is known to confer. Par- 
ties, however, had occasionally been sent out shortly af- 
ter the taking up of their winter quarters. One of these 
did not return on board before sunset, as strictly ordered, 
and the consequence is stated to have been as follows : 

" John Pearson, a marine belonging to the Griper, who 
was the last that returned on board, had his hands severely 
frost-bitten, having imprudently gone away without mittens, 
and with a musket in his hand. A party of our people most 
providentially found him, although the night was very dark, 
just as he had fallen down a bank of snow, and was begin- 
ning to feel that degree of torpor and drowsiness which, if 
indulged, inevitably pi*oves fatal. When he was brought on 
board his fingers were quite stiff, and bent into the shape of 
that part of the musket which he had been carrying ; and the 
frost had so far destroyed the animation in his fingers on one 
hand that it was necessary to amputate three of them a short 
time after, notwithstanding all the cai-e and attention paid to 
him by the medical gentlemen. The effect which exposure 
to severe frost has in benumbing the mental as well as the 
corporeal faculties was very striking in this man, as well as 
in two of the young gentlemen, who returned after dark, and 
of whom we were anxious to make inquiries respecting Pear- 
son. When I sent for them into my cabin they looked wild, 
spoke thick and indistinctly, and it was impossible to draw 
from them a rational answer to any of our questions. After 
being on board for a short time the mental faculties appeared 
gradually to return with the returning circulation ; and it was 
not till then that a looker-on could easily persuade himself 
that they had not been drinking too freely." — P. 108. 

This was fully sufficient for the attentive and kind- 
hearted commander to adopt effective measures against 
a recurrence of so painful a result. So early as the 29th 
of October the thermometer was down to 24° below zero. 
It was now distressing to touch any metallic substance 
with the naked hand in the open air; it produced a feeling 
of intense heat, and took off the skin. If the eyepiece 
of a telescope touched the face, it occasioned an intense 
burning pain ; the remedy was to cover them and other 
instruments with soft leather. The officers, notwith- 
standing, indulged themselves in walking for an horn- or 
two in the middle of the day, in the depth of winter, 



FAERY S FIRST VOYAGE. 79 

even when the thermometer was down to 40° or even 
50° below zero, without experiencing much inconve- 
nience from this intense degree of cold, provided always 
that there was no wind ; but the least breeze made the 
exposure to it intolerable when the mercury was even 
several degrees above zero. The following passage is 
so naturally and so well expressed, that the desire to ex- 
tract it is irresistible. Speaking of their short walks on 
shore, Parry says : 

" It may well be imagined that at this period there was 
but little to be met with ill our walks on shore which could 
either amuse or interest Us. The necessity of not exceeding 
the limited distance of one or two miles, lest a snow-drift, 
which often rises very suddenly, should prevent our return, 
added considerably to the dull and tedious monotony which 
day after day presented itself. To the southward was the 
sea, covered with one unbroken surface of ice, uniform in its 
dazzling whiteness, except that, in some parts, a few hom- 
mocs were seen thrown up somewhat above the general 
level. Nor did the land offer much greater variety, being 
almost entirely covered with snow, except here and there a 
brown patch of bare ground, in some exposed situations, 
where the wind had not allowed the snow to remain. When 
viewed from the summit of the neighboring hills, on one of 
those calm and clear days which not unfrequently occurred 
during the winter, the scene was such as to induce contem- 
plations which had, perhaps, moi*e of melancholy than of any 
other feeling. Not an object was to be seen on which the 
eye could long rest with pleasure, unless when directed to 
the spot where the ships lay, and where our little colony was 
planted. The smoke which there issued from the several 
fires, affording a certain indication of the presence of man, 
gave a partial cheerfulness to this part of the prospect ; and 
the sound of voices, which, during the cold weather, could 
be heard at a much greater distance than usual, served now 
and then to break the silence which reigned around us — a 
silence far different from that peaceable composure which 
characterizes the landscape of a cultivated country ; it was 
the deathlike stillness of the most dreary desolation, and the 
total absence of animated existence. Such, indeed, was the 
want of objects to afford relief to the eye or amusement to 
the mind, that a stone of more than usual size appearing 
above the snow, in the direction to which we were going, 
immediately became a mark, on which our eyes were un- 
consciously fixed, and toward which we mechanically ad- 
vanced . 



80 AKCTIC VOYAGES. 

" Dreary as such a scene must necessarily be, it could not, 
however, be said to be wholly wanting in interest, especially 
when associated in the mind with the peculiarity of our sit- 
uation, the object which had brought us hither, and the hopes 
which the least sanguine among us sometimes entertained of 
spending a part of our next winter in the more genial climate 
of the South-Sea Islands. Perhaps too, though none of us 
then ventured to Confess it, our thoughts would sometimes 
involuntarily wander homeward, and institute a comparison 
between the rugged face of nature in this desolate region 
and the livelier aspect of the happy land which we had left 
behind us."— P. 124,' 125. 

Nothing could be more judicious than the arrange- 
ments made for the employment of the men each day 
in the week; and on Sundays divine service was inva- 
riably performed, and a sermon read, on board both ships. 
" The attention," says Pany, " paid by the men to the 
observance of their religious duties was such as to re- 
flect upon them the highest credit, and it tended in no 
small degree to the preservation of that regularity and 
good conduct for which, with very few exceptions, they 
were invariably distinguished." The minor arrange- 
ments made by Parry to find employment, and to vary 
the occupations of both men and officers, during the 
long, unbroken night of three months, appear to have 
been very judicious. The former, after attending divis- 
ions morning and evening, cleared up the decks, attend- 
ed the officers round the ships, examined their berths 
and bed-places, and in the evening went to their supper, 
while the officers took their tea. After this the men 
were permitted to amuse themselves as they pleased, 
and games of various kinds, as well as dancing and sing- 
ing, occasionally went on upon the lower deck till nine 
o'clock, when they retired to rest, and their lights were 
extinguished. " It is scarcely necessary to add," Parry 
observes, "that the evening occupations of the officers 
were of a more rational kind than those which engaged 
the attention of the men. Of the former, reading and 
writing were the principal employments, to which were 
occasionally added a game of chess, or a tune on the 
flute or violin, till half past ten, about which time we all 
retired to rest." 

On Christmas-day, which had now arrived, the weath- 



parry's first voyage. 81 

er was raw and cold, with snow ; but to mark the day in 
the best manner that circumstances would permit, di- 
vine service was performed on board the two ships ; 
*' and I directed a small increase in the men's usual pro- 
portion of fresh meat, as a Christmas dinner, as well as 
an additional allowance of grog, to drink the health of 
their friends in England. The officers also met at a so- 
cial and friendly dinner, and the day passed with much 
of~ the same kind of festivity by which it is usually dis- 
tinguished at home ; and," he adds, " to the credit of 
the men be it spoken, without any of that disorder by 
which it is too often observed by seamen." 

The good order, regularity, and discipline of the two 
ships, in this most trying of situations, is above all praise ; 
wholly deprived as they were of the sight of the sun for 
eighty-four days, which may be reckoned, as it really 
was, one continued night, lighted up only, and that par- 
tially, by the moon, and occasionally by the fleeting Au- 
rora Borealis. Their extraordinary good conduct, un- 
der such circumstances, must, in a great degree, be as- 
cribed to the example set them by their excellent com- 
mander, cordially seconded by Lieutenant Liddon and 
the other officers. It is well understood in the navy 
that obedient and good conduct on the part of seamen, 
:and a high state of discipline in a man-of-war, are the 
sure results of able and intelligent officers, kind and at- 
tentive to those under their command, yet, at the same 
time, strictly requiring from them a ready and willing 
obedience to the orders of their superiors, and to the 
rules and regulations of the service. Such were the 
men, and such the commanders, on the present service ; 
and the consequence was, that every man (with the ex- 
ception of one poor fellow, v/ho carried out with him an 
incurable disease) was brought home in as high a state 
<of health as that in which he left England. 

One ease of scurvy was reported on the 2d of Janu- 
ary. Mr. Seallon, gunner of the Heela, complained of 
pains in his legs, and the appearance of his gums left no 
doubt of the symptoms being scorbutic, which Mr. Ed- 
wards, the surgeon, ascribed to the deposit of moisture 
in his bed-place. The commander, ever anxious for the 
preservation of health in his ship, put in requisition all 



82 ARCTIC voyages: 

their anti-scorbutics for his recovery, consisting of pre*- 
served vegetable soups, lemon-juice and sugar, pickles^, 
preserved currants and gooseberries, and spruce beer. 
He also raised in his cabin a quantity of mustard and 
cress, of which, even in the severity of the winter, he 
could generally ensure a crop at the end of the sixth or 
seventh day. So effectual were these remedies in 
Scallon's case, that, on the ninth evening from the attack, 
he was able to walk about on the lower deck, and " he 
assured me," says Parry, " that he could then run a 
race." 

Thursday, the 3d of February, was a day not to be 
forgotten. At twenty minutes before apparent noon the 
sun was seen from the Hecla's main-top (at the height 
of fifty -one feet above the sea), being the first time that 
this luminary had been visible to them since the 11th of 
November — a period, as already said, of eighty-four days, 
that is, twelve days less than the time of its remaining 
actually beneath the horizon, independently of the ef- 
fects of atmospherical refraction. Throughout Febru- 
ary, however, the intensity of the cold, instead of being 
somewhat mitigated by the rays of the sun, feeble as 
they were, was increased. On the 24th a fire broke 
out in the shore -house, and, in the exertions to save the 
valuable instruments, not fewer than sixteen men incur- 
red frost-bites, the thermometer during the day being 
from — 43° to— 44°. 

" Among these there were four or five cases which kept 
the patients confined for several' weeks ; but John Smith, of 
the artillery, who was Captain Sabine's servant, and who, to- 
gether with Sergeant Martin, happened to be in the house at 
the time the fire broke out, were unfortunate enough to suf- 
fer much more severely. In their anxiety to save the dip- 
ping-needle, which was standing close to the stove, and of 
which they knew the value,. they immediately ran out with 
it ; and Smith, not having time to put on his gloves, had his 
fingers in half an hour so benumbed, and the animation so 
completely suspended, that, on his being taken on board by 
Mr. Edwards, and having his hands plunged into a basin of 
cold water, the surface of the water was immediately frozen 
by the intense cold thus suddenly communicated to it ; and,, 
notwithstanding the most humane and unremitting attention 
paid to him by thp medical gentlemen, it was found necessa- 



parry's first voyage. 83 

ry, some time after, to resort to the amputation of a part of 
four fingers on one hand and three on the other." — P. 148, 
149. 

" The appearance," says Parry, "which our faces pre- 
sented at the fire was a curious one, almost every nose 
and cheek having become quite white with frost-bites in 
five minutes after being exposed to the weather, so 
that it was deemed necessary for the medical gentlemen, 
together with some others appointed to assist them, to 
go constantly round while the men were working at the 
fire, and to rub with snow the parts affected, in order to 
restore animation." 

On the 16th day of February the greatest degree of 
cold was experienced, the thermometer having descend- 
ed to — 55°, and remained for fifteen hours at — 54°, the 
less to have been expected as the old year had closed 
with mild weather. On the following day Parry says, 
" Notwithstanding the low temperature of the external 
atmosphere, the officers contrived to act, as usual, the 
play announced for this evening ; but it must be con- 
fessed that it was almost too cold for either the actors 
or the audience to enjoy it, especially those of the for- 
mer who undertook to appear in female dresses." It is 
some consolation, however, to be told that there was no 
wind, and the severest cold has been stated to be toler- 
able in a calm. In March the snow began to melt, with 
a temperature of 20° to 30° in the sun, but with — 22° 
to — 25° in the shade. Luminous arches, parhelia, and 
the Aurora were frequent, but not particularly remark- 
able. Toward the end of April the thermometer con- 
tinued above the freezing point in the shade for the 
greater part of two days, and about the middle of May 
the ships were once again afloat, the operation of cut- 
ting the ice round them being completed. 

Parry, however, observes that it was sufficiently dis- 
couraging to his hopes of a farther progress to the west- 
ward, to perceive that, on the last day of May, " the 
sea still presented the same unbroken and continuous 
surface of solid and impenetrable ice, and ice that could 
not be less than from six to seven feet in thickness, as 
we knew it to be about the ships. When to this cir- 
cumstance was added the consideration that scarcely 



84 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

the slightest symptoms of thawing had yet appeared, 
and that in three weeks from this period the sun would 
again begin to decline to the southward, it must be con- 
fessed that the most sanguine and enthusiastic among us 
had some reason to be staggered in the expectation they 
had formed of the complete accomplishment of our en- 
terprise." 

It may here be remarked that the whole of the navi- 
gation hitherto performed had been from the 1st of 
August, when Lancaster Sound was entered, to the 26th 
of September, when the ships were anchored on the 
coast of Melville Island. Lieutenant Parry has else- 
where observed that the month of September is one of 
the most favorable for navigation among masses of ice. 
but the shores of Melville Island, at least, appear to be 
an exception — to be, in fact, the recipients of the great 
est part of the ice driven to the eastward by the west- 
erly winds about that parallel, this island being the out- 
ermost of the Georgian chain, and considered by Pany 
as by far the worst he ever met with. 

Previous, however, to their departure frorn this 
dreary, dismal, and detestable abode, Parry determined 
to make a journey across Melville Island to the north- 
ward, and to return by a different route. He was ac- 
companied by Captain Sabine, .Messrs. Fisher, Nias, and 
Reid, a sergeant of marines, and a sergeant of artillery, 
together with three seamen and two marines, making, 
in the whole, a party of twelve. They took with them 
tents, provisions, and a cooking apparatus. It was found 
that those parts of the island which were clear of snow 
produced the dwarf willow, sorrel, and poppy, and that 
the moss was very luxuriant. On the second day they 
saw a pair of ducks (Anas spectabilis), and killed seven 
ptarmigan : sorrel and saxifrage were abundant. They 
found pieces of coal embedded in sandstone ; passed a 
veiy extensive, dreary, and uninteresting level plain 
covered with snow ; and this kind of ground, with occa- 
sional ravines and foggy weather, continued for three 
days, during which they saw not a living animal, except 
one or two flocks of geese (Anas bernicla). 

Parry, being desirous of obtaining a view of the sea 
on the northern shore, took with him the two midship- 



PARRY S FIRST VuYAGE. 85 

men Nias and Reid, with a quarter-master of the Griper. 
After a long and disagreeable march they came to what 
they considered to be the sea. Anxious, however, to 
leave nothing uncertain, they walked a few hundred 
yards upon the ice, and endeavored, by means of a 
boarding-pike and then* knives, to make a hole through 
it in order to taste the water ; but after two hours' la- 
bor they only succeeded in getting through two feet 
of very hard, brittle, and transparent ice, more so than 
that of salt water usually is. This did not satisfy Parry, 
who returned to the party left behind and earned them 
back with him to the spot. The floe was penetrated, 
and proved to be fourteen feet and four inches in thick- 
ness ; the water flowed up within fifteen inches of the 
surface of the ice, and was found to be " not very salt ?' 
sufficiently so, however, to convince them all that it was 
the sea on which they were standing. 

On the 9th of June they set out on their return, kill- 
ed three ptarmigans, and saw a pah* of ducks, and, two 
days after, a great number of brent geese, some ptarmi- 
gan, and many snow-buntings ; the constant and cheer- 
ful note of the latter reminded them of a better country 
— a worse, perhaps, it would be difficult to find ; it re- 
minded them of home, this darling little bird being con- 
sidered the robin redbreast of the snowy regions.* Ar- 
rived at Bushnan's Cove, in Liddon's Gulf, on the west- 
ern side of Melville Island, the party found " one of the 
pleasantest and most habitable spots we had yet seen in 
the Arctic regions, the vegetation being more abundant 
and forward than in any other place, and the situation 
sheltered and favorable for game." They found here a 
good deal of moss, grass, dwarf-willow, and saxifrage, 
and Captain Sabine met with a ranunculus in full flower. 
Thus we see that even in this, the most desolate region 
of the earth, the superiority of the western coast pre- 
dominates. The hunters saw and fired at a musk-ox, 
but did not kill him ; they saw also several golden plov- 
ers, and one or two boatswains (Lestris). On the 15th 
they reached the ships, and were complimented by their 
shipmates on their good looks, and as appearing in more 
robust health than when they departed. 

* See Captain Lyon's Voyage regarding this bird. 

H 



86 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

Toward the end of June the ice oegan to move in the 
offing, with a loud, grinding noise, and on the 5th of Ju- 
ly the thermometer rose from 50° to 52°, and on the two 
following days to 55°. The ice in the harbor also be- 
gan to dissolve, and was there covered with pools of 
water. On the 17th the temperature rose to 60°, the 
highest point it ever reached at Melville Island. On 
the 24th eveiy thing was complete for proceeding to sea ; 
" the sails were bent in readiness for starting at a mo- 
ment's notice, though it must be confessed that the mo- 
tive for doing so was to make some show of moving, rath- 
er than any expectation I dared to entertain of soon es- 
caping from our long and tedious confinement ; for it was 
impossible to conceal from the men the painful fact, that 
in eight or nine weeks from this period the navigable 
season must unavoidably come to a conclusion." Anoth- 
er painful fact was, that, before the expiration of July, 
the approach of winter announced itself in the diminu- 
tion of temperature, which seldom reached 40° by day, 
and also by the falls of sleet and snow, as well as by the 
pools of water frozen over in the night. 

On the last day of July the whole body of the ice in 
the harbor was perceived to be slowly moving out, break- 
ing away for the first time at the points which form the 
entrance of the harbor. 

The latitude and longitude of Winter Harbor is thus 
stated : 

Latitude by 39 meridian altitudes . 74° 47' 19" N. 

Longitude by 692 sets of observations, 

consisting of 6862 lunar distances . 110° 48" 29" W. 

Dip of magnetic needle . . . 88° 43' 

Variation 127° 47' 50" E. 

On the 1st of August, the day on which Lancaster 
Sound had been entered, the two ships stood out of 
Winter Harbor, after having passed ten whole months 
and a part of September and August in that dreary place 
of imprisonment. They stood along the shore of Mel- 
ville Island to the westward, occasionally running in near 
to the beach to avoid the masses of ice in motion ; in 
one place, the Hecla being within twenty yards of the 
beach, a point of land, which was lined all round with 
large hommocs of ice, rendered it a most dangerous sit- 



VOYAGE. 87 

oatkm ; and the more so as the body of the ice coming 
in from the westward, being distant from the ship less 
than half a mile, was composed of floes infinitely more 
heavy than any they had elsewhere met with during the 
voyage. Lieutenant Liddon sent word that the Griper 
was also in a situation exactly similar to that of the Hec- 
la, where "nipping" appeared unavoidable if the floes 
should come in. Parry desired Liddon not to join him, 
as there was not room for two ships, " and the chances 
•of saving one of them from the catastrophe we had reas- 
on to apprehend were greater by their being separate." 

By chance, and it was by chance entirely, they es- 
caped; but had the apparent catastrophe taken place, 
which they had reason to apprehend, not a single being 
could have survived the melancholy fate that must inev- 
itably have awaited them ; all must have perished from 
famine and the intense cold of the approaching winter. 
This state of things, and, indeed, eveiy circumstance 
connected with this abominable island, must serve as a 
beacon to warn off any future navigator from coming even 
within sight of it, but to avoid it as the ancients did Scyl- 
la or Charybdis. It is to be hoped, and there is reason 
to believe, that Sir John Franklin's attention has been 
particularly drawn to this part of Sir Edward Parry's 
narrative. 

The ships remained, however, at or near the same 
place, and a mass of about an acre in extent drove in and 
gave the Hecla a considerable "nip," and then grazed 
past her to the westward. The following day another floe 
came in, "and gave the ship a heavy rub." Parry, howev- 
er, still persevered in creeping along the shore of Melville 
Island, the ships sustaining such frequent and " severe 
rubs" that nothing short of the stoutest timber, the most 
sound and flexible iron, and the most judicious construc- 
tion of the fabrics, could possibly have withstood these 
frequent rubs to which they were exposed. Persever- 
ing, however, in this beach-sailing, generally within half 
a mile of it, till they arrived very nearly to the western- 
most point of the island, the commander, believing there 
was little hope of making farther progress to the west- 
ward, and having experienced during the first half of the 
navigable season such a continued series of vexations, 



88 ftKCTIC VOYAGES. 

disappointments, and delays, accompanied by such a con- 
stant state of danger to the ships, felt it now to be no 
longer justifiable to persevere in a fruitless attempt to get 
to the westward. 

On consulting the officers of both ships, they agreed 
with him that any farther attempt to proceed to the 
westward in that parallel would be altogether fruitless ; 
they also agreed in the plan he proposed of running back 
to the eastward along the edge of the ice, to look out for 
any opening that might lead them to the American con- 
tinent, and, failing to find any such, to return to England. 
On the 26th of August, therefore, they turned the ships' 
heads to the eastward, and on the morning of the 27th 
had passed the eastern end of Melville Island, in an open 
channel not less than ten miles wide, all hands heartily 
rejoicing to take leave forever of this island. We are 
told, however, in a note, that the island, during their 
stay of nearly twelve months, had afforded them the fol- 
lowing quantity of game : three musk-oxen, twenty-four 
deer, sixty-eight hares, fifty-three geese, fifty-nine ducks, 
and one hundred and forty -four ptarmigans, amounting 
in weight to three thousand seven hundred and sixty- 
six pounds of meat ; that is to say, it afforded to each of 
ninety -four men three pounds and a half of meat per 
month ! the produce of an island which is stated to ex- 
ceed five thousand square miles. 

On the 31st of August they repassed Lancaster Sound, 
and on the 1st of September bore up and ran along the 
land, taking their departure from the flag-staff in Pos- 
session Bay, on the southeastern point of the said sound. 
As the whole of this coast was run down in 1818, and 
partially examined, it is not necessary to follow the pres- 
ent expedition in any remarks upon it; but before the 
ground be quitted on which no less than twelve months 
were passed, from September, 1819, to August, 1820, 
the temperature of the air in the shade may be noticed : 

Maximum 60°, Minimum 50°, Range 110°. 

The mean of the twelve months +l°-33. 

The lowest temperature registered on the ice was — 55° ; 
it did not rise above 54° for seventeen hours on the 14th and 
15th of February, 1820. 

On the whole of this eastern coast of Baffin's and Da- 



PARRY'S FIRST VOYAGE. 89 

vis's Strait they called only at one place, Clyde's River, 
in latitude 70° 22'. Here they received visits from a 
tribe of Esquimaux, whose appearance and conduct 
pleased them all very much — lively, good natured, and 
cheerful, Yfith a great inclination to jump about when 
much pleased, " rendering it," says Parry, " a penalty 
of no trifling nature for them to sit still for half an hour 
together." They were decently clothed, male and fe- 
male, and their children equally so, in well-dressed and 
neatly-sewn seal skins. They were, in fact, in all re- 
spects, infinitely superior to Ross's Arctic Highlanders, 
who pulled or rubbed noses as a salutation, and asked if 
ships were not living creatures. But Parry shall himself 
mark the contrast : 

" Upon the whole, these people may be considered in pos- 
session of every necessary of life, as well as of most of the 
cpmforts and conveniences which can be enjoyed in so rude 
a state of society. In the situation and circumstances in 
which the Esquimaux of N. Greenland [Ross's Highlanders] 
are placed, there is much to excite compassion for the low 
state to which human nature appears to be there reduced — a 
state in few- respects superior to that of the bear or the seal, 
which they kill for their subsistence. But with these it was 
impossible not to experience a feeling of a more pleasing 
kind : there was a respectful decency in their general be- 
havior, which at once struck us as very different from that of 
the other untutored Esquimaux ; and in their persons there 
was less of that intolerable filth by which these people are 
so generally distinguished. But the superiority for which 
they are most remarkable is, the perfect honesty which char- 
acterized all their dealings with us. During the two hours 
that the men were on board, and for fotu" or five hours that 
we were subsequently among them on shore, on both which 
occasions the temptation to steal from us was, perhaps, stron- 
ger than we can well imagine, and the opportunity of doing 
so by no means wanting, not a single instance occurred, to my 
knowledge, of their pilfering the most trifling article. It is 
pleasing to record a fact no less singular in itself than honor- 
able to these simple people." — P. 287. 

Nothing material occurred in their way across the 
Atlantic, till the afternoon of the 26th of October, when 
they struck soundings in seventy fathoms in latitude 59° 
55'. On the 28th they were between Fair Island and 
the Orkneys ; on the 29th made Buchaness, and on the 
H2 



90 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

following day the commander landed at Peterhead, ac- 
companied by Captain Sabine and Mr. Hooper, who pro- 
ceeded without delay to London, where they arrived on 
the morning of the 3d of November, 1820. 

" Such was the excellent state of health which we at this 
time continued to enjoy on board the Hecla, that during the 
whole season of our late navigation from Winter Harbor to 
the coast of Scotland, being a period of thirteen weeks, not 
a single case had been entered on our sick-list, except from 
one or two accidents of a trifling nature ; and 1 had the hap- 
piness of seeing every officer and man on board both ships 
(with only one exception out of ninety-four persons) return 
to their native country in as robust health as when they left 
it, after an absence of nearly eighteen months, during which 
time we had been living entirely on our own resources." — 
P. 309. 

It is not intended here to enter into any detail of the 
observations made during the voyage, nor of the scien- 
tific operations carried on whenever an opportunity oc- 
curred. Nothing was omitted which highly intelligent 
officers and the best instruments could supply. An ap- 
pendix, drawn up on a clear and well-arranged principle, 
contains such observations and remarks as were deemed 
of most importance. The volume itself exhibits the 
conduct and the character of both officers and men in 
the most praiseworthy point of view ; and with regard 
to the enlightened commander by whom it was written, 
it need only be repeated here, what has been said else- 
where : " No one can rise from the perusal of this work 
without being impressed with the fullest conviction that 
his merits as an officer and scientific navigator are of the 
highest order ; that his talents are not confined to his 
professional duties ; but that the resources of his mind 
are equal to the most arduous situations, and fertile in 
expedients under every circumstance, however difficult, 
dangerous, or unexpected." In addition to all this, Par- 
ry may be said to possess the true character and spirit 
of a British sailor — open, straightforward, and upright ; 
his education was such as to inspire him with a love of 
the profession, having entered the service in 1803, been 
made a lieutenant in 1810, and continued to serve in 
that rank on the coast of America till 1817, when he 
was selected, as has been related in the preceding voy- 
age, to command the Alexander, as second to Ross. 



1MRRY S FIRST VOYAGE. 91 

On the present voyage he was most cheerfully and 
energetically obeyed and assisted by all his officers in 
both ships ; and, in addition to the ordinary services 
which navigation and nautical astronomy require, he had 
the benefit of Captain Sabine's valuable and cordial co-op- 
eration in carrying out a series of experiments in a branch 
of science unconnected with any that regards navigation — 
the swinging a pendulum for ascertaining the ellipticity of 
the earth. Captain Sabine, being a connection of Mr. 
Henry Browne, of Portland Place, had unrestricted ac- 
cess to that gentleman's observatory and valuable collec- 
tion of astronomical instruments, some of which were 
supplied to the present expedition ; and the practical use 
of them was well known to Captain Sabine. In the ap- 
pendix to Commander Parry's narrative we find the cap- 
tain joined with other officers in making observations on 
the dip, the variation and declination of the magnetic 
needle ; in ascertaining the latitudes and longitudes by 
thermometers jointly with Parry, Beechey, and Hoop- 
er ; and lunar observations taken at Winter Harbor and 
at sea with Parry, Beecher, Hooper, and Ross, amount- 
ing to the extraordinary number of six thousand eight 
hundred and sixty -two. 

Sabine, in addition to all these, describes (in the ap- 
pendix) the subjects of natural history collected in the 
three classes of mammalia, birds, and fishes. But the 
most important will probably be considered that of No. 
8, " An account of the experiments to determine the 
acceleration of the pendulum in different latitudes," 
which would appear to have been the joint labor of 
Parry and Sabine. "The accidental -discovery," it is 
said, "that a pendulum, on being removed from Paris 
to the neighborhood of the equator, increased its time 
of vibration, gave the first step to our present knowledge 
that the polar axis of the globe is less than the equato- 
rial, and that the force of gravity at the surface of the 
earth increases progressively from the equator toward 
the poles." In the present instance two clocks were 
used in these experiments, being the property of the 
Royal Society, and the same which accompanied Cap- 
tain Cook round the world ; and the result is stated to 
be, that the mean daily acceleration of the two clocks 



92 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

/ was seventy -four thousand seven hundred and thirty- 
' four vibrations, which is considered as the true accelera- 
tion of a pendulum between the latitudes 51° 31' 08" 
(London) and 74° 47' 14" (Melville Island) ; and the 
deduction, which was obtained from the result of the 
acceleration between London and Melville Island, gives 
the diminution of gravity from the pole to the equator 
to be -0055258 ; and this decimal gives for the ellipticity 
of the earth, 3 ^ 2 . 6 > 

But as Captain Sabine in the year 1821 (the next fol- 
lowing that of his arrival in England) embarked on a 
most arduous undertaking to investigate the last-men- 
tioned subject in high latitudes, an account of his voya 
ges and operations will be resumed hereafter. 

It may perhaps be deemed presumptuous in a lands- 
man venturing to differ from so expert and complete a 
seaman as Commander Parry; but it is under a con- 
viction that he will not be displeased at, but take in good 
part, a few desultory remarks, though not exactly cor- 
respondent with his own opinion. " Our experience," 
he says, " I think has clearly shown that the navigation 
of the Polar seas can never be performed with any de- 
gree of certainty, without a continuity of land. It was 
only by watching the occasional openings between the 
ice and the shore that our late progress to the westward 
was effected ; and had the land continued in the desired 
direction, there can be no question that we should have 
continued to advance, however slowly, toward the com- 
pletion of our enterprise." The objection about to be 
offered is not to the " slow advance," but to the chance 
of no advance at all, and to the extreme hazard of the 
loss of the ship and crew, which had nearly happened 
in the present instance, and did actually happen to the 
ship on a future occasion, by a nip, or rub, or pressure 
between the ice and the shore ; to say nothing of the 
constant apprehension, the anxiety, and incessant threat- 
ening of momentary destruction, which occurred along 
the whole coast of Melville Island, and the frequent 
"rubs" and " nips" which both ships experienced be- 
tween the sea ice and the shore ice, when nothing but 
extreme watchfulness and good management could pos- 
sibly have saved them from being crushed. Instead, 



parry's first voyage. 93 

therefore, of having to " watch the occasional openings 
between the ice and the shore," would it not be more 
desirable to avoid placing the ship between the ice and 
the shore ? to keep as far as possible from the shore, 
and trust to an open sea, free from land of any kind, 
even with the usual quantity of loose ice, hommocs, or 
floes ? A ship, it is presumed, may always make her 
way through such a sea with little or no danger, as is 
well known to the whale-fishing ships, which carefully 
avoid coming near an ice-bound coast. 

Against wintering in the ice there are numerous ob- 
jections, though the detention cannot always be avoided. 
One of them, but perhaps the least serious, is the great 
inconvenience and discomfort which the officers and 
crew must unavoidably be subject to, without any chance 
of compensation by carrying out the objects of the expe- 
dition—without hope of thereby advancing discoveiy or 
geographical knowledge. And although the hardships 
of wintering in the ice have been shown, on the present 
occasion, to admit of mitigation, when they happen un- 
der so able and discreet an officer as Commander Par- 
ry, whose resources are inexhaustible, it may fall to the 
lot of another, whose mind is less fertile in expedients 
to soften them. Another objection may, perhaps, be 
raised against the danger that is likely to be incurred ; 
but this by caution and attention may generally be pro- 
vided against. A third, and one of the- first import- 
ance in most cases, is the utter inutility of wintering in 
the Arctic seas ; for no harbors are known that are 
not filled with ice for eight or nine months in the year, 
and the ship must be secured in ice that is already 
thick and firm by the close of the season, generally mak- 
ing it necessary to cut a canal, at an immense labor, 
so as to be floated to a place of safety; and it is most 
likely to happen that, before she can be got out again, 
the following season is so far expired, that all the ser- 
vice she can then undertake is to get home, with the 
loss of a year. 

After all, it is but a choice of evils, to winter or return 
when the first obstruction commences. In that portion 
of the globe in question, a short passage home is next to 
certain, whether beset in the ice or in an open sea, as the 



94 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

wind is generally favorable for a southern voyage, and the 
current almost always so ; but it may happen that no 
choice is left, and then to winter has become a matter of 
necessity ; and Parry has laid down an admirable code 
of instructions for any one reduced to that emergency. 



CHAPTER V. 
COMMANDER CLAVERING AND CAPTAIN SABINE, R.A. 

1822-1823. 



1. Journal of a Voyage to Spitzbergen and the East Coast 
of Greenland, in His Majesty' 's Ship Griper, D. C. Cla- 
vering, Esq., Commander. 

2. An Account of Experiments to determine the Figure of the 
Earth by means of the Pendulum vibrating seconds in dif- 
ferent latitudes ; as well as on some other subjects of Phil- 
osophical Inquiry. By Edward Sabine, Captain in the 
Eoyal Artillery. 

It was considered expedient to introduce a brief no- 
tice of this voyage among those specially sent into the 
Arctic regions for the purpose of discovery, and for 
two reasons : first, that Commander Clavering was to 
be ordered to proceed to Spitzbergen, and thence to the 
east coast of Greenland, and that on the latter he suc- 
ceeded in reaching a higher degree of latitude than any 
former or subsequent navigator had effected ; and, sec- 
ondly, that he carried out, first in the Pheasant, and 
then in the Griper, Captain (now Lieutenant-colonel) 
Sabine, who, veiy shortly after his return from the 
first voyage of Parry to the Arctic Sea, recommenced 
that series of observations on the length of the seconds' 
pendulum which were made in the Hecla. 

Captain Sabine, impelled by the zeal and love of 
science for which he is distinguished, hastened to pro- 
ceed, in the first instance, to Sierra Leone, in the Iphi- 
genia, on the 22d of February, 1822, and completed his 
pendulum experiments there in April. Sir Robert 
Mends there assigned the Pheasant to convey him to 



CLAVERING AND SABINE. 95 

the several Atlantic stations where he was desirous to 
swing his pendulum, mostly in the West Indies and to 
the southward of the line, as far as Ascension. 

Commander Ceavering, of the Pheasant, was an 
officer well versed in the scientific duties of a navigator, 
and a friendship was speedily formed between the two 
officers that ceased only with the death of the sailor, 
which happened when, in the year 1827, he command- 
ed the Redwing, which ship sailed from the coast of 
Africa, and, being never after heard of, is supposed to 
have foundered, and all on board to have perished. It 
is stated by Mr. James Smith, the editor of the voyage, 
that such was the able and zealous manner in which 
Commander Clavering co-operated with Captain Sa- 
bine, that the latter was not only enabled to make the 
observations at every station in the most satisfactory 
manner, but without the slightest accident ever having 
taken place in moving the numerous and delicate instru- 
ments to and from the ship. The observations being 
completed at Sierra Leone, the places next to be visited 
were the Island of St. Thomas, Ascension, Bahia, 
Maranham, Trinidad, Jamaica, and New York ; to 
all of which places Captain Sabine was conveyed in 
succession by the Pheasant, and made his pendulum 
observations at each of them in a manner satisfactory to 
himself; and those observations were published by the 
Board of Longitude, and will briefly be noticed here. 
The two officers, it is said, executed a valuable and ex- 
tensive series of observations on the direction and force 
of the equatorial current. 

Immediately after the arrival of the Pheasant in Eng- 
land, on the 5th of February, 1823, Captain Sabine 
suggested, through Sir Humphrey Davy, that the ex- 
tension of similar experiments would be desirable if 
earned on in high latitudes, and that he was ready (as 
he ever is when the calls of science require it) to under- 
take this service. The Griper, gun-brig, was appropri- 
ated forthwith for that purpose, and on the 26th of Feb- 
ruary Clavering was appointed to command her. The 
plan of the voyage proposed by Captain Sabine was, to 
proceed in the first instance to Hammerfest, near the 
North Cape of Norway, about the 70th degree of lati- 



96 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

tude ; thence to a second station, in or near the 80th 
parallel, on the northern coast of Spitzbergen ; after- 
ward to make the east coast of Greenland, in as high a 
latitude as the barrier of ice, which renders that coast 
difficult of access, would permit, and having got within 
the barrier, to ascend the coast to the northward as far 
as might be compatible the same year, in order to ob- 
tain a third pendulum station for Captain Sabine's exper- 
iments at the highest degree of latitude that might be 
there attained. 

He was then to return to the southward, and if Cap- 
tain Sabine should wish for a fourth station on the coast 
of Iceland, he was to use his discretion, according to the 
state of the weather and the time of the year, to stop at 
that island ; if not, a fourth station might be sought else- 
where, in or about the same parallel, and after that to 
return to England. The equipment of the Griper being 
completed, and the magnetical pendulum, with the va- 
rious instruments for astronomical and other scientific 
purposes, being embarked by the second week in May, 
she sailed from the Nore on the 11th of that month for 
Hammeifest, where she arrived on the 4th of June. 

This place, built on a small island named Qualoen, or 
Whale Island, is said to consist of about a dozen houses. 
The bay is small, but the anchorage good and safe ; the 
only provisions to be got here were reindeer, which 
were cheap ; the trade is entirely in fish and oil. The 
natives are described as kind and hospitable, and were 
pleased at the idea of a visit from even such a small 
man-of-war as the Griper. The women are fair and 
pretty, and. dress much like our own ; remote from the 
civilized world, they are untainted by either its vices or 
its wants. Morality and religion strictly predominate, 
and deviations from either are rare. Mr. Crowe, an 
English merchant, who acts as consul, resides here, and 
paid the visitors much attention. The latitude, 70° 40' ; 
the dip of the needle, 77° 40'. 

On the 23d of June, Captain Sabine having finished 
his observations, the Griper put to sea the same even- 
ing ; on the 27th, fell in with the first ice off Cherry 
Island, in latitude 75° 5', a gale of wind then blowing ; 
saw Spitzbergen in the evening, and fell in with a great 



SLAVERING AND SABINE, 97 

number of walruses. On the 30th rounded Hakluyt's 
Headland, anchored aoreast of a small island, one of the 
inner Norweys, and the same on which Captain Phipps 
made his observations in 1773 ; disembarked the tents 
and instruments, and sent parties on shore to erect them. 
Two reindeer and a walrus were killed on the neigh- 
boring island of Vogel Sang. From hence Commander 
Clavering determined to push as far to the northward as 
he could, while Captain Sabine was carrying on his 
pendulum observations, leaving here for his assistance a 
party of six men under the command of Mr. Foster 
and Mr. Rowland, assistant surgeon, together with his 
lanch, and six months' provisions and fuel, to carry them 
to Hammerfest, should any accident happen to the Gri- 
per in her absence. He sailed on the 5th of July, and 
ran due north twenty-five miles from Cloven Cliff; 
found himself embayed among the ice ; and on the 6th 
the ship struck against something, which turned out to 
be ice. This was discovered on the fog dispersing, 
when a field of packed ice presented itself to view, ex- 
tending east and west as far as the eye could reach ; the 
latitude observed was 80° 20', which was the most north- 
ern obtained, for, having skirted the margin in a line 
nearly west for about sixty miles, and finding it trending 
to the southward, and everywhere closely packed, and 
perceiving no appearance of an opening or of clear water, 
it was deemed useless to proceed farther, and the Gri- 
per returned to the station, which she reached on the 
11th of July. 

Captain Sabine having completed his operations — a 
party having killed about fifty reindeer, as a supply of 
fresh provisions, and eveiy thing being re-embarked on 
the 22d of July: — on the 24th they put to sea, and steered 
S.W. for the eastern coast of Greenland, a course that 
would bring them to Gael Hamkes' Bay, in about the 
latitude of 74°, this being considered as the highest 
point known to the north on that coast. After many 
impediments from fields of ice, they reached, on the 8th 
of August, a tolerably open channel between the ice 
and the coast, and sent a boat on shore at a point which 
was named Cape Borlase Warren; "than which," 
Clavering says, "never was there a more desolate spot 
7 I 



98 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

seen ; Spitsbergen was, on the whole, a paradise to 
this place." Proceeding along the coast, among floes 
of ice, they discovered two islands, to which they gave 
the name of the Pendulum Islands. 

Clavering passed them, and stood on to the northward 
till stopped by ice ; and he had now reached what he con- 
sidered to be the N.E. point of Greenland, formed by 
an island, in lat. 75° 12', from the heights of which could 
plainly be seen high land, due north, at least as far as lat, 
76°. He named the island Shannon Island, and the 
S.E. extremity Cape Philip Broke, "from the ship it 
was my good fortune to serve in, and under her gallant 
commander here named." 

Getting under way, the Griper returned to the south- 
ward in a narrow channel close to the shore, on which 
she grounded in 2\ fathoms ; was got off by lightening 
her ; anchored in "a sheltered bay between one of the 
Pendulum Islands; landed Captain Sabine, the observa- 
tory, tents, and instruments ; and prepared the yawl and 
wherry for a distant excursion, while Sabine was em- 
ployed in his pendulum experiments. On the 16th of 
August he set out, taking with him three officers and 
sixteen men. They landed on Cape Borlase Warren, 
about eighteen miles to the southward, with each a boat- 
cloak and a blanket ; slept in them, and found no incon- 
venience from the cold ; and this was continued for 
twelve nights, the temperature not lower than 23°. 
Here they found traces of natives, and several graves. 
Proceeding up an arm of the bay, which runs inland, a 
tent of seal skins was found on the beach, and two na- 
tives appeared on the heights. They were at first rath- 
er shy, but, by degrees, acquired confidence. They ap- 
peared not to differ in any respect from the common 
race of Esquimaux : the whole tribe amounted but to 
twelve. Their surprise was roused only by witnessing 
some of the crew firing at a mark with muskets. A pis- 
tol was given to one of the natives, who fired into the 
water ; the recoil startled him so much that he immedi- 
ately slunk away into his tent. The following morning, 
being the third, it was found they had all departed, leav- 
ing every thing behind them ; their sudden retrea* b**'Q£ 
no doubt occasioned by their alarm at the firing. 



CLAVERING AND SABINE. 99 

The party had now advanced to an extensive bay, or, 
rather, an inland basin, whose circumference could not 
be less than fifty miles. It was perfectly free of ice, 
not one piece being visible in this immense sheet of wa- 
ter. Clavering thinks it the same which was discovered 
by Gael Hamkes in 1654, and which bears his name. 
In an inlet from this bay, the mountains on both sides 
were of a great height, ending in immense glaciers, at 
least 5000 feet high. On the 29th of August they reach- 
ed the ships, after a fatiguing absence of thirteen clays. 
On the following day Captain Sabine concluded his ob- 
servations, the tents and instruments were re-embarked, 
and on the 31st of August the Griper got under way. 
The latitude of the observatory on Pendulum Island is 
74° 32' 19" N., longitude 18° 50' W. 

The shore to the southward continued about 3000 
feet high, along which the ship proceeded in a channel 
of clear water, the ice being five or six miles from the 
shore. About Cape Parry, however, latitude 72|-°, in 
a narrow lane of water, two floes suddenly closed to- 
gether, and the tongues projecting beneath (calves they 
are usually called), pressed the Griper between them 
and lifted her abaft considerably out of the water. She 
got clear without much damage ; but the ice was hang- 
ing about Cape Parry so close to the shore, that the 
commander wisely stood out to sea, and on the 13th of 
September the Griper finally quitted the coast of Green- 
land, the whole line along which they had sailed being 
from 2000 to 3000 feet in height, with mountains in the 
interior perhaps double that height. A violent gale came 
on, and the ship was secured to a mass of ice ; received 
several severe shocks ; the hawsers and stream cables 
gave way ; also two chain cables and two large hawsers ; 
tiie gale increased ; large masses continually rolled in ; 
the pressure became so violent that the whole of them 
parted before daylight. " Our situation," says the com- 
mander, " was now a most anxious one ; the gale con- 
tinued with unabated violence, and the ship drove to the 
southward among loose ice and heavy floes, which, from 
the darkness of the night, We could neither see nor 
avoid." The admirable manner, he says, in which the 
little Griper had been strengthened, allowed her to bear 



100 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

the severe shocks without being injured ; the heaviest 
shocks she received must have knocked a Greenlandman 
to pieces. 

The gale continuing, drove them to the southward, 
and on the 23d of September they made the coast of 
Norway in latitude 63° 55'. On the 1st of October the 
Griper struck hard on a sunken rock, and got off undam- 
aged ; on the 4th entered Drontheim Fiord, and on the 
6th anchored in the harbor ; and " we were received," 
says Clavering, " with the greatest kindness and hospi- 
tality." Captain Sabine having completed his experi- 
ments here, the Griper proceeded down the fiord on the 
13th of October, was detained in the narrows till the 
19th, and again windbound till the 3d of December, when 
she was liberated, and reached Deptford on the 19th of 
that month, 1823. 



We now proceed to give a brief account of Captain 
Sabine's labors. 

The volume of Captain Sabine, from which the follow- 
ing notice is taken, affords an extraordinary instance of 
personal and mental application on distant voyages and 
various climates within the Tropics and the Arctic re- 
gions, and of intellectual exertion and industry not easily 
to be paralleled. It consists of more than five hundred 
pages of observations, carefully arranged under various 
heads, made with transit instruments, chronometers, 
clocks, and pendulums ; containing, besides, numerous 
experiments at the several stations touched at by Com- 
mander Clavering, as already noticed, amounting to eight 
in number on the two sides of the Atlantic, at each of 
which the chief authorities manifested the utmost read- 
iness to afford every assistance, both in our own colonies 
and at places belonging to foreign powers. 

Any attempt here to explain them would give but lit- 
tle notion of the labors successfully accomplished by 
Captain Sabine ; the tables detailing the several kinds of 
observations must be seen in order duly to appreciate 
their importance, to say nothing of the calculations nec- 
essary to arrive at the deductions and conclusions which 
have resulted from them. The observations may be 
stated to comDrise a series of six in number at each sta- 



CLAVERING AND SABINE. 10 J 

tion: No. 1. Times of transit of stars, to ascertain the 
rate of the clock ; No. 2. Adjustment of telescope to the 
same vertical plane ; No. 3. Daily rate of chronometers 
from preceding transits ; No. 4. Comparison of chronom- 
eter and clock at exact intervals ; Nos. 5 and 6 comprise an 
account of the coincidences in the double series of each 
pendulum. Each table, of course, occupied several days. 

The Pheasant left Sierra Leone early in April, and 
arrived at New York on the 10th of December; com- 
menced observations on the 22d, and concluded on the 
2d of Jan., 1823, in the last two of which Sabine had a 
co-operator. The observations were carried on at Co- 
lumbia College ; and Captain Sabine says, " I must ever 
deem myself to have been most highly fortunate in the 
association which it procured me of the Professor of 
Natural and Experimental Philosophy and of Chemistry, 
Mr. James Renwick, whose interest in the experiments 
was so strongly excited as to induce him to give me his 
unremitting co-operation, a circumstance peculiarly de- 
sirable and satisfactory on an occasion in which the re- 
sults may hereafter come in question, in the comparison 
of the standard measurements of the two countries." 

On the 5th of February, 1823, the Pheasant arrived 
at Portsmouth, and Captain Sabine had the satisfaction 
of finding that a letter which he had written to Sir Hum- 
phrey Davy from Maranham, proposing the extension of 
the experiments to the high latitudes, had met the ap- 
probation of the Commissioners of Longitude ; that Lord 
Melville's consent had been obtained for the employment 
of one of his majesty's ships in its prosecution ; and 
that the Griper sloop of war, which had been engaged 
in the expedition of 1819-20, would forthwith be com- 
missioned by Commander Clavering. The interval, how- 
ever, of the Griper's equipment was occupied by Cap- 
tain Sabine in repeating the trial of the pendulums in 
Portland Place, to ascertain that they had undergone no 
alteration in the course and by the events of the preced- 
ing voyage. 

The process of these experiments, the preparation 
of an apparatus for the clock and pendulum, and provid- 
ing cover and protection for the instruments, which ex- 
perience in the Northern expedition, and particularly at 
12 



102 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

Melville Island, had taught Captain Sabine to be neces- 
sary, were simultaneously completed with the equip- 
ment of the Griper. That vessel left the Nore on the 
11th of May, and arrived at Hammerfest, the place des- 
ignated by him as his first station, on the 4th of June. 
A spot was selected for the observations at Fugleness, 
where Mr. Crowe, a gentleman at the head of a large 
commercial establishment, resides, and who gave every 
possible assistance and attention to the party. Here 
Captain Sabine repeated the same routine of observa- 
tions — the transits of the sun and stars — the determina- 
tion of the rate of chronometers by zenith distances — 
the coincidences observed with two pendulums. These 
were all completed by the 23d of June ; the instruments 
embarked, and the Griper arrived at Fail- Haven, on 
the coast of Spitzbergen, on the 1st of July. 

The Griper anchored at one of the Norweys, which 
forms, with, the coast of Spitzbergen, the harbor of 
Fair Haven. Here the experiments proceeded without 
interruption, being the same series as that practiced at 
Hammerfest, and were concluded on the 19th of July. 
From hence Captain Sabine, being desirous of preserv- 
ing unbroken the continuity of the account of the pendu- 
lum experiments, proposed that no time should be lost 
in proceeding to a proper station on the east coast of 
Greenland, which the Griper successfully accomplished 
in a higher latitude than is recorded to have been pre- 
viously traversed, namely, between the 74th and 75th 
degrees, in the second week of August. Being stopped, 
however, soon after he had passed the 75th parallel, and 
the season advancing, he returned along the coast to a 
harbor of safe anchorage in latitude 74° 30', which he 
had noticed in passing to the northward. Here the 
Griper was anchored, and became the station for con- 
ducting the pendulum experiments. 

This harbor is formed by the channel which separates 
the main land from an island, on which the experiments 
were made, and which is secured from the access of 
heavy ice from the ocean by a smaller island in the mid- 
channel of the entrance. The group, of which these 
islands form a part, consists of two nearly of the same 
size, and two others much smaller, being rather rocks 



CLAVERING AND SABINE. 103 

than islands : they extend from the latitude of 74° 30' to 
that of 74° 42', and were distinguished by the officers and 
seamen of the Griper by the appellation of the Pendulum 
Islands. It had been the intention of Captain Sabine to 
make Reikiavik, in Iceland, the concluding station of the 
pendulum experiments in the high latitudes ; but when 
the 17th of September had arrived, before they found 
themselves finally disengaged from the Greenland ice — 
the season of navigation drawing to a close — the autum- 
nal gales already commenced, and the nights above six- 
teen hours long — it was deemed not prudent to risk the 
approach to the coast of Iceland. It was, therefore, 
thought preferable to recross the Northern Ocean, and 
to seek a pendulum station on the coast of Norway, 
nearly in the same latitude as Reikiavik ; and Drontheim 
appearing to be the most eligible for the purpose, the 
Griper arrived there on the 8th of Oetober. 

Captain Sabine says, " It had been the good fortune 
•of Captain Clavering and myself to have experienced at 
«ach of the inhabited stations which we had visited the 
most marked hospitality and kindness, but at none were 
our obligations in these respects greater than at Dron- 
theim." Among others, he mentions the governor 
( Count Trampe), Mr. Schnitler, the British consul, and 
Mr. Knutson and his amiable family, from whom every 
Englishman that visits this part of Norway is sure to 
meet with a kind reception. Every assistance was af- 
forded toward the accomplishment of this last series of 
-experiments, and they were enabled to weigh anchor at 
Drontheim on the 13th of November ; but, owing to vi- 
olent gales of wind and very bad weather, the Griper did 
not arrive at Deptford till the 19th of December, 1823. 
Captain Sabine says, the boisterous weather they had 
was accompanied by very vivid lightning, which is par- 
ticularly unusual in high latitudes in winter, and by the 
frequent appearance and continuance, for several minutes 
at a time, of balls of fire at the extremities of the yard 
aims and mast heads ; of these not less than eight were 
counted at one time. 

All the experiments were carefully gone over in Lon- 
don, and examined by the Council of the Royal Society 
and Board of Longitude, with other individuals most 



104 ARCTIC VOYAGE*. 

conversant in these observations, with the calculations 
for determining the variations in the length of the sec- 
onds' pendulum, from whence the following general de- 
duction is drawn for indicating the ellipticity of the 
earth, which is all that can be given here, the various cal- 
culations and the experiments occupying a large volume. 
The result then is : 39-01520 inches is the length of the 
equatorial pendulum ; 0*20245, the increase of gravitation 
between the Equator and Pole ; and the ellipticity -^gL-^ 
That deduced from the increase of gravitation between. 
London and Melville Island was ^y^q' 

Thus, says Captain Sabine, "the attempt to deter- 
mine the figure of the earth, by the variations of gravity 
at its surface, has been carried into full execution on an 
arc of the meridian of the greatest accessible extent, and 
the results which it has produced are seen to be con- 
sistent with each other, in combinations too varied to ad- 
mit a probability of the correspondence being accidental." 
They are, in fact, the combinations of Captain Sabine's 
13 stations; of the French savans' 8 stations; of the 
British survey, 7 stations ; making, in all, 28 stations. 

This result, however, of the ellipticity " differs," says 
Sabine, " more considerably than could have been ex- 
pected from koe.-jg , which had been previously received 
on the authority of the most eminent geometrician of 
the age, as the concurrent indication of the measure- 
ments of terrestrial degrees, of pendulum experiments,, 
and of the lunar inequalities dependent on the oblateness 
of the earth." 

The success that has attended the experiment of in- 
vestigating the figure of the earth by means of. the pen- 
dulum, encourages, as Captain Sabine thinks, the belief 
that an equally satisfactory conclusion, and one highly 
interesting in the comparison, might be obtained by the 
measurement of ^terrestrial degrees ; that is to say, by 
an actual measurement of a degree of the meridian. 
This has, in fact, been done in various parts of the 
world, but centuries ago, when the instruments were 
inferior, and the mode of their most advantageous em- 
ployment less understood than at present. In India an 
arc has recently been measured, and one of an old date 
at the Cape of Good Hope remeasured ; but Captain 



CLAVERING AND SABINE. 105 

Sabine points out Spitsbergen, being near to the Polar 
extremity of the meridian, " as the land of most conven- 
ient access in either hemisphere." He says : 

" The access to all parts of the interior is greatly facilitated 
by the extensive fiords, and arms of the sea, by which the 
land is intersected in so remarkable a manner ; these, wheth- 
er frozen over, as in the early part of the season, or open to 
navigation, as in the later months, form routes of communica- 
tion suited to the safe conveyance of instruments, either in 
sledges or boats: the fiord, in particular, which separates the 
western and eastern divisions of Spitzbergen, would be of 
great avail : it extends in a due north and south direction for 
above 120 miles, with a breadth varying from 10 to 30 miles, 
and communicates at its "northern extremity, by a short pass- 
age across the land, with the head of another fiord, proceed- 
ing to meet it from the northern shores of the island, and af- 
fording similar facilities for carrying on either a triangula- 
tion, or a direct measurement on the surface of the ice at the 
level of the ocean."— P. 362. 

He adds, what is very true, that the measurement of 
a portion of the meridian is one of the many experiment- 
al inquiries beyond the reach of individual means to 
accomplish. 

This officer, indefatigable in the pursuit of practica 
science, writes, in February, 1826, to Mr. Davies Gil- 
bert on the subject, enforcing the plan by additional 
proofs of its practicability, and offering his services : 
" Should the Council of the itoyal Society think that I 
could be advantageously employed in conducting such an 
investigation, my services, as you well know, are at 
their command." 

He has, however, been reserved for a more laborious 
and not a less important task. The geographical deter- 
mination of the direction and intensity of the magnetic 
forces at different points of the earth's surface has been 
regarded as an object worthy of especial research. To 
examine, in different parts of the globe, the declination, 
inclination, and intensity of the magnetic force, and 
then periodical and secular variations, and mutual rela- 
tions and dependencies, could only be duly investigated 
in fixed magnetical observatories. On the Continent 
some such observatories were established, to which, in 
the year 1836, the attention of British philosophers was 



106 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

specifically drawn by a letter from the Baron von Hum- 
boldt to the Duke of Sussex, then President of the 
Royal Society. In consequence thereof, observatories 
for this special purpose were established at Greenwich, 
Dublin, Canada, Hobart Town, St. Helena, Cape of 
Good Hope, and other places. The observations made 
at Toronto have been received, examined, and printed, 
under the superintendence of Lieutenant-colonel Sabine 
— a work of extraordinary care and labor.* He has 
undertaken, besides, to examine and arrange the rest as 
they come in, which it is expected will be in the course 
of the present year, 1845. The volume now printed is 
introduced by an able and well-written preface by Col- 
onel Sabine. 

* See note in Introduction, p. 17. 



CAPTAIN PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE. 107 



CHAPTER VI. 
CAPTAIN PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE. 

1821-22-23. 



Journal of a Second Voyage for the Discovery of a North- 
west Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in his Maj- 
esty' 's ships Fury and Hecla. 

The two vessels appointed for this voyage were strong 
and well-built bombs : the Fury, of 377 tons, and the 
Hecla, 375 tons ; commanded, officered, and manned as 
under : 

Hecla. 

Geo. Francis Lyon, Commander. 

Hen. Perkyns Hoppner, > T . . 

Charles Palmer, ™ 'jLieuts. 

Alexander Fisher, Surgeon. 

John Jermain, Purser. 

Allan M'Laren, Assist. Surgeon. 

Joseph Sherer, "1 

Charles Richards, I Midship- 

W. Nelson Griffiths, j men. 

Edward Bird, J 

William Mogg, Clerk 
IT Officers. 

Joseph Macklin, Gunner. 

Joseph Lilly, Boatswain. 

Charles Purfur, Carpenter. 

George Fife, Greenland Master. 

Alexander Elder, do. Mate. 



Fury. 
W. Edward Parry, Commander. 
George Fisher, Chaplain and As- 
tronomer. 

John Edwards, Surgeon. 

W. Harvey Hooper, Purser. 

James Skeoch, Assist. Surgeon. 

John Henderson, y 

Fr.R. M. Crozier, V Midshipmen. 

Jas. Clarke Ross, ) 

John Bushnan, Assistant Sur- 
veyor and Midshipman. 

James Hulse, Clerk. 
12 Officers. 
5 Warrant Officers. 
11 Petty Officers. 
24 Able Seamen. 
8 Marines (including 1 Sergeant) 
60 Total on board. 



5 Warrant Officers. 
11 Petty Officers. 
24 Able Seamen. 

7 Marines. 

58 Total on board. 



George Francis Lton was a smart, clever lieuten- 
ant, at first appointed as acting in the Berwick by Sir 
Edward Pellew ; he was wounded in an attack made on 
that ship's boats, and had his commission confirmed to 
her in 1814. He was then appointed to the Albion, 
and was in the battle of Algiers in 1816. Being of an 
adventurous turn, while he was serving in the squadron 
under Sir Charles Penrose, he asked and obtained per- 



108 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

mission from Sir Charles to join Mr. Ritchie, a gentle- 
man appointed on a mission to Tripoli, Mourzouk, and 
other parts of North Africa, who was most desirous of 
having a naval officer to accompany him. Ritchie died 
shortly after, and Lyon succeeded him ; who concluded, 
reasonably enough, that among the Arab tribes the lieu- 
tenant might advantageously take upon him the title of 
captain — a rank which, it appears, he nominally carried 
into the present voyage of discovery. On his appoint 
ment to the Hecla he received the rank of commander, 
and on the return of the ships in 1823 was raised to that 
of captain. 

Many of the officers who had served on the first voy- 
age were employed on this : Hoppner, as lieutenant of 
the Hecla ; Edwards, as surgeon ; Midshipman Palm- 
er, as lieutenant of the Hecla. The midshipmen Nias 
and Reid were promoted as lieutenants of the Fury, 
and Ross, Bushnan, and Griffiths remained to serve as 
midshipmen. Hooper, the purser, and Hulse, the clerk, 
each continued, as did Allison and Crawford, the Green- 
land master and mate, in the service, and aboard the 
Fury. She had also four midshipmen : two new ones, 
John Henderson and F. R. M. Crozier, besides Ross 
and Bushnan, who had served in the preceding voyage. 

Commander Parry observing on the late expedition a 
large inlet, not less than ten leagues wide at its mouth, 
opening out on the southern coast of Barrow's Strait, 
and extending southernly, with an inclination to the 
westward, ran the ships into it, and continued to the 
southward about one hundred and twenty miles. The 
soundings were found to be two hundred fathoms and 
upward. The closeness of the ice, however, to the 
southwest induced him to return to the northward ; but 
his impression was, that this strait might lead to the 
coast of America, and that the east and west lands 
which enclose it were probably islands ; and he says, 
" On an inspection of the charts, I think it will also ap- 
pear probable that a communication will one day be 
found to exist between this inlet and Hudson's Bay, 
either through the broad and unexplored channel called 
Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome, or through Repulse Bay, 
which has not yet been satisfactorily examined. It is 



CAPTAIN PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE. 109 

also probable that a channel will be found to exist be- 
tween the western land and the northern coast of 
America." 

In the passage above quoted a foundation appears to 
have been laid for a voyage, if not two, in farther search 
of a northwest passage. That search was not likely to 
be abandoned when so experienced and talented a man 
as Commander Parry pointed out what appeared to be 
a channel by which a passage might be found through 
the western land to the northern coast of America. 
Accordingly, in a few months after his return from the 
last voyage, on the 30th of December, 1820, a commis- 
sion was signed appointing him commander of the Fury, 
and on the 4th of January Lieutenant Lyon was ap- 
pointed commander of the Hecla. 

His majesty having, on the representation of Lord 
Melville, ordered another attempt to be made to discover 
a passage by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans, and to ascertain the geography of the northern 
boundaries of the American continent, Parry's instruc- 
tions were to proceed toward or into Hudson's Strait. 
He was then to penetrate to the westward through that 
strait until he should reach, either in Repulse Bay or 
on some other part of the shore of Hudson's Bay, to the 
north of Wager River, some portion of the coast which 
he should feel convinced to be a portion of the continent 
of America. Failing of this, he was then to keep along 
the line of this coast to the northward, always examining 
every bend or inlet which should appear likely to afford 
a practicable passage to the westward, in which direc- 
tion it was the principal object of the voyage to endeavor 
to find a way from the Atlantic to the Pacific* These 
instructions were sufficiently explicit, and accorded with 
the view taken by Commander Parry in his narrative 
of the former voyage. 

On the 8th of May, 1821, the Fury and Hecla, ac- 
companied by the Nautilus transport (freighted with 
stores and provisions to be transhipped on arriving at the 
ice), sailed from the Nore, and, owing to bad weather, 
it was not till the 14th of June that they found them- 
selves in latitude 60° 48', and saw the first iceberg. At 

* Admiralty Instructions. 

E 



110 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

the depth of 460 fathoms the temperature of the sea 
was 40°, that of the surface, 40^°, and that of the air, 
414°. On the 2d of July they were close to Resolution 
Island, the valleys of which were filled with snow, and, 
with the fog that hung over it, " rendered the scene 
Before us indescribably dreary and disagreeable." " It 
requires," says Commander Parry, " a few days to be 
passed amid scenes of this nature to erase, in a certain 
degree, the impressions left by more animated land- 
scapes ; and not till then, perhaps, does the eye become 
familiarized, and the mind reconciled, to prospects of 
ufter barrenness and desolation such as these rugged 
shores present." The numerous icebergs, of which 
Commander Lyon counted fifty-four in sight at one 
time, some of them not less than two hundred feet 
above the sea, were not calculated to enliven the scene. 

On the 2d the ships were closely beset, though drift- 
ing rapidly about by the tides during the night. The ice 
consisted of loose masses of broken floes, among which 
the ships continued to be driven, sometimes in one di- 
rection and then in an opposite one ; and among these 
masses were counted thirty icebergs in sight at a time, 
many of them whirled about by the tides with great ra- 
pidity. Several of these immense bodies were from fif- 
ty to ninety feet above the surface of the sea, each prob- 
ably almost as many fathoms below it. The command- 
er, however, states that the bergs which thus drive about 
are less dangerous to approach than those aground, 
against which a ship is liable to be carried with the 
whole force of the tide. 

On the 8th they were still drifting about among the 
ice, close to Resolution Island, without knowing, during 
the night, in what direction they were carried ; but when 
it cleared up, they were surprised to find the Hecla elev- 
en or twelve miles to the westward, though still beset in 
the ice. On the 9th the ice closed round them, and they 
remained immovably beset for a week, though carried 
by it daily from one to four miles. This is precisely 
what was alluded to at the conclusion of the last expe- 
dition ; and it appears that the two ships were in less 
danger (in fact, there was none) than those on the shore 
of Melville Island. They were still, however, in the en- 



CAPTAIN PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE. Ill 

trance only of Hudson's Strait, which, being exposed to 
the swell of the main ocean, and completely open to the 
influence of the whole Atlantic, has always been consid- 
ered, by the ships of the Hudson's Bay Company, a 
most dangerous and difficult position: three of these 
Were seen here in a similar predicament with the discov- 
ery ships. In proceeding up the strait, several Esqui- 
maux canoes, or "kayaks, made their appearance, offer- 
ing seal and whale oil, spears, skins of the seal, bear, 
fox, &c, for sale. After them came a large oomiak, or 
woman's boat ; their filthy customs, however, disgusted 
the seamen, who gave them no sort of encouragement. 

"On the whole," says Parry, " it was impossible for 
us not to receive a very unfavorable impression of the 
general behavior and moral character of the natives of 
this part of Hudson's Strait, who seem to have acquired, 
by an annual intercourse with our ships for nearly a hun- 
dred years, many of the vices which unhappily attend a 
first intercourse with the civilized world, without having 
imbibed any of the virtues or refinements which adorn 
and render it happy." 

Having reached Southampton Island, near its northern 
extremity, where the continuity of the land appeared to 
be dissolved, Parry concluded they were not far from 
the eastern entrance of the Frozen Strait, which had 
occasioned so much angry discussion, a hundred years 
ago, as to whether any such strait existed, or whether 
it was not a chimera invented by Captain Middleton. 
As this geographical point had never been decided, Par- 
ry had some difficulty in determining the question of 
trying it or not, as, in his present position with regard to 
Repulse Bay, which he was ordered to examine, the 
distance was not more by passing that strait than fifty 
leagues, whereas, if compelled to pursue a route round 
the south end of Southampton Island, it would make the 
distance from one hundred and seventy to two hundred 
leagues. " After the most anxious consideration, I came 
to the resolution of attempting the direct passage of the 
Frozen Strait, though, I confess, not without some ap- 
prehension of the risk I was incurring, and of the seri- 
ous loss of time which — in case of failure, either from 
the non-existence of the strait, or from the insuperable 



112 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

obstacles which its name implies — would thus be inevi- 
tably occasioned to the expedition." 

His decision was right ; and, though much hampered 
by floes, and hommocs, and packs of ice, he was still 
less so than in the neighborhood of Resolution Island ; 
and he was rewarded by the discovery, not far from its 
entrance, of what he calls " a magnificent bay," which 
the officers honored with the name of the " Duke of 
York's Bay," having been first entered on his birthday. 
It is situated on the northeastern extremity of South- 
ampton Island. The bay, however, on the western side 
was shut in by alow shore, which it was concluded could 
be no other than " the low, shingly beach, like Dungen- 
ess," of Middleton. 

He found it necessary, therefore, to retrace his steps, 
and to encounter once more the Frozen Strait, with its 
rocks and islets, its irregular tides and hommocs of float- 
ing ice ; and what was, perhaps, worse than all, dark, 
foggy weather, with compasses that had almost lost their 
action. He soon, however, got into water nearly free 
from ice, which allowed him to proceed westerly, but 
entirely by the lead for five or six hours, when, on the 
weather clearing up, he found himself almost entirely 
surrounded by land, " having unconsciously entered Re- 
pulse Bay, in which not a piece of ice was to be seen 
that could obstruct us in its thorough examination." 

This full examination was certainly given to it ; and 
whatever doubts might hitherto have been entertained 
respecting its communication with the Polar Sea, Com- 
mander Parry and his party, by their complete investi- 
gation of the whole of its shores, have set that question 
entirely at rest. The boats entered every little creek 
and corner, " and thus was the question settled as to the 
continuity of land round Repulse Bay, and the doubts 
and conjectures which had so long been entertained re- 
specting it set at rest forever." Parry takes the oppor- 
tunity, moreover, of doing ample justice to that injured 
and persecuted navigator, Captain Middleton. *« The 
whole account," he says, " that he has given of this bay, 
with the exception of its geographical position, is in gen- 
eral very accurate, particularly in the appearance of the 
lands, their relative situation, and in the nature and depth 



CAPTAIN PA"RRY 5 S SECOPTD VOYAGE. 113 

of the soundings." And with respeci: to the Frozen 
Strait, there can be little doubt, he says, tnat the account 
which Middleton has given of its appearance, as seen 
from Cape Frigid, is in the main a faithful one : " Above 
all, the accuracy of Captain Middleton is manifest upon 
the point most strenuously argued against Mu> by Mr. 
Dobbs ; for our subsequent experience has not left the 
smallest doubt of Repulse Bay, and the northern part of 
the Welcome, being filled with a rapid tide, flowing into 
it from the eastward, through the Frozen Strait." 

The appearance of the shores of Repulse Bay was 
far from uninviting. " The surrounding land rose from 
six or seven hundred to a thousand feet, and there was 
no want of vegetation usually found in this part of the 
Arctic regions, and in many parts it w T as extremely lux- 
uriant." Reindeer and hares were plentiful ; so were 
ducks, dovekies, and snow -buntings. Several black 
whales also were observed in the bay. In one spot the 
remains of no less than sixty Esquimaux habitations were 
found, consisting of stones laid one over the other, in 
very regular circles, eight or nine feet in diameter ; be- 
sides about a hundred artificial structures, fireplaces, 
store-houses, and other walled enclosures four or five 
feet high, used for keeping their skin canoes from being 
gnawed by the dogs. In various parts of the shore were 
found numbers of circles of stones, which were supposed 
to have been burying-places, a human skull being found 
near one of them. Among these stones the Hudson 
mouse was very abundant. " I do not know," says Par- 
ry, " whether the seals' flesh remaining on some of the 
bones was any attraction to these creatures, but it is cer- 
tain that, when two of them were put together into a 
cage, the larger kiEed the other, and ate a part of it." 

Commander Parry having now satisfactorily deter- 
mined the non-existence of a passage to the westward 
through Repulse Bay, he was next, in compliance with 
his instructions, " to keep along the line of this coast to 
the northward, always examining every bend or inlet 
which might appear likely to afford a practicable passage 
to the westward ;" and he congratulates himself on hav- 
ing reached this point so early, and especially " at hav- 
ing passed, almost without impediment, the strait to 
8 K 2 



114 ARCTIC VOYAGES, 

which, on nearly the same day seventy-nine years be- 
fore, so forbidding a name had been applied." 

He had not yet, however, got rid of that formidable 
strait, with its obnoxious name. In coasting down the 
northern shore of Repulse Bay, it was necessary again 
to cross the northern part of the Frozen Strait, and pass 
through Kurd's Channel, which was nearly blocked up 
by Bushnan Island, leaving only a narrow passage at 
each extremity to get to the eastward ; and, when pass- 
ed, other islands and narrow channels occur, among 
which were found such rapid tides, hurling large masses 
of ice about, as to carry the ships every moment into 
imminent danger. And when they had in some meas- 
ure got through this labyrinth, after long, anxious, and 
toilsome labor,, a fresh gale from the northward, on the 
3d of September, drifted the large floe of ice to which 
the ships were attached to a greater distance than " I 
ever remember," says Parry, " to have happened before 
in the same time under any circumstances." But the 
most mortifying of all was the discovery that, after all 
their toil, they had been driven back past Baffin Island 
toward the two remarkable hills on Southampton Island, 
from which they were at noon not more than seven or 
eight leagues distant. " Thus," says Parry, " after a 
laborious investigation, which occupied one month, we 
had, by a concurrence of unavoidable circumstances, re- 
turned to nearly the same spot as that on which we had 
been on the 6th of August. This untoward event may 
serve to show the value of even the smallest geographi- 
cal information, in seas where not an hour must be- 
thrown away or unprofitably employed." 

The whole of this voyage, from the first entrance of 
Hudson's Strait to the point now reached, has proved? 
so harassing, so unproductive, and so dangerous withal, 
as to havo required from him who had the conducting; 
of it a more than ordinary share of patience, persever- 
ance, and equanimity, possessing a temper not easily 
to be ruffled ; and such an officer was Parry. His 
great object, when in extreme difficulty, he tells us r 
was to cheer up the spirits of his people, and to keep 
them constantly on the alert and moving whenever such 
difficulty occurred, even when there was no prospect of 



CAPTAIN PARRY S SECOND VOYAGE. 115 

the ships' stirring ; to keep, in short, both their bodies 
and minds in a state of activity. Thus he says on the 
present disheartening occasion, "In the afternoon an 
attempt was made to move, for the mere sake, it must 
be confessed, of moving and keeping the people on the 
alert, rather than with the slightest prospect of gaining 
any. ground." 

Indeed, throughout the whole of his Arctic voyages 
of discovery, the resources of his own mind never failed 
to supply the means of conveying a happy state of con- 
tentment into the minds of those who were serving 
under him, and of gaining their confidence. The pres- 
ent was a trying moment. The 5th of September had 
arrived, the navigable season had nearly expired, and 
they were only at the commencement of their discov- 
eries. By the 15th of September, however, they had 
examined numerous inlets and openings on the Ameri- 
can coast, and among others, a very extensive and deep 
one, to which Parry gave the name of Lyon's Inlet. 
Various creeks and coves were also examined by the 
boats ; but the continuity of the land was every where 
determined, and no passage found to the westward. 
They fell in with a small tribe of Esquimaux, whose 
habitations were visited, and the inmates found to be 
" a good-humored and decent sort of people." One 
lad, in particular, is described as " uncommonly quick 
and clever in comprehending our meaning, and seemed 
to possess a degree of good-humor and docility which, 
on our short acquaintance, made him a great favorite 
among us." 

In some of the bays and inlets the ice remained fixed 
and unbroken, and, as far as could be seen, grounded 
along the coast. Still they proceeded, passing by no 
creek or inlet without landing or boating to examine it 
thoroughly. On the 1st of October some rain fell, 
which, immediately freezing, made the decks and ropes 
as smooth and slippery as glass. For several days be- 
fore, the thermometer had permanently fallen below the 
freezing point ; and the rapid formation of young ice 
near the shores gave pretty evident notice of the ap- 
proach of winter. On the 6th of October, Parry says, 
" There being now only an hour's daylight remaining, 



116 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

the young ice fast increasing, and a strong tide running 
in the offing, I was obliged to relinquish the idea of 
moving till the morning." On the 8th the thermome- 
ter was down to zero, and the sea was covered with 
young ice, of which we have the following description : 

" The formation of young ice upon the surface of the water 
is the circumstance which most decidedly begins to put a stop 
to the navigation of these seas, and warns the seaman that his 
season of active operations is nearly at an end. It is indeed 
scarcely possible to conceive the degree of hinderance occa- 
sioned by this impediment, trifling as it always appears be- 
fore it is encountered. When the sheet has acquired a thick- 
ness of about half an inch, and is of considerable extent, a 
ship is liable to be stopped by it unless favored by a strong 
and free wind ; and even when still retaining her way through 
the water, at the rate of a mile an hour, her course is not 
always under the control of the helmsman, though assisted 
by the nicest attention to the action of the sails, but depends 
upon some accidental increase or decrease in the thickness of 
the sheet of ice, with which one bow or the other comes in 
contact. Nor is it possible in this situation for the boats to 
render their usual assistance, by running out hues or other- 
wise ; for, having once entered the young ice, they can only 
be propelled slowly through it by digging the oars and boat- 
hooks into it, at the same time breaking it across the bows, 
and by rolling the boat from side to side. After continuing 
this laborious work for some time with little good effect, and 
considerable damage to the planks and oars, a boat is often 
obliged to return the same way that she came, backing out 
in the canal thus formed to no purpose. A ship in this help- 
less state, her sails hi vain expanded to a favorable breeze, 
her ordinary resources failing, and suddenly arrested in her 
course upon the element through which she has been accus- 
tomed to move without restraint, has often remhided me of 
Gulliver tied down by the feeble hands of Lilliputians ; nor 
are the struggles she makes to effect a release, and the appa- 
rent insignificance of the means by which her efforts are op- 
posed, the least just or the least vexatious part of the resem- 
blance."— P. 116, 117. 

The expediency of fixing upon some eligible place for 
the security of the ships For the winter could no longer 
be doubted nor delayed. A small island lying off the 
northern point of the entrance into Lyon's Inlet was 
agreed upon by the two commanders, being found to 
afford good anchorage on its southern coast. " "We 






CAPTAIN PARRY S SECOND VOYAGE. 117 

now," says Parry, "for the first time walked on board 
the ships, and before night we had them moved into 
their places by sawing a canal for two or three hundred 
yards through the ice." He adds : 

" In reviewing the events of this om first season of naviga- 
tion, and considering "what progress we had made toward 
the attainment of our main object, it was impossible, however 
trifling that progress might appear upon the chart, not to ex- 
perience considerable satisfaction. Small as our actual ad- 
vance had been toward Behring's Strait, the extent of coast 
newly discovered and minutely explored in pursuit of our 
objects, in the course of the last eight weeks, amounted to 
more than 200 leagues, nearly half of which belonged to the 
continent of North America. This service, notwithstanding 
our constant exposure to the risks which intricate, shoal, and 
unknown channels, a sea loaded with ice, and a rapid tide 
concurred in presenting, had providentially been effected 
without injury to the ships, or suffering to the officers and 
men ; and we had now once more met with tolerable security 
for the ensuing winter, when obliged to relinquish farther 
operations for the season. Above all, however, I derived the 
most sincere satisfaction from a conviction of having left no 
part of the coast from Repulse Bay eastward in a state of 
doubt as to its connection with the continent. And as the 
main-land, now in sight from the hills, extended no farther to 
the eastward than about a N.N.E. bearing, we ventured to 
indulge a sanguine hope of -our being very near the north- 
eastern boundary of America, and that the early part of the 
next season would find us employing our best efforts in push- 
ing along its northern shores." — P. 118. 

Being now fixed in their winter quarters, it is scarcely 
necessary to say that the first and earliest attention of 
the provident commander was directed to the security 
of the ships, the arrangements for the preservation of 
cleanliness, health, and comfort during a long prospect- 
ive winter, as well as for the economical expenditure of 
provisions, fuel, and all other stores. At first, and for 
some time, apprehension was entertained respecting the 
security of the ships in an open roadstead facing the 
south, as the grounded masses on the shores of the bay 
began to show symptoms of instability, one or two hav- 
ing fallen over, and others turned round, so that, instead 
of being a protection, these masses might be looked upon 
rather as dangerous neighbors : other circumstances 



118 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

were calculated to excite apprehensions of danger, but, 
happily, they escaped them all ; and the ships, once 
frozen in and beset by solid ice, remained firm as rocks. 
It may be quite certain that nothing was omitted by 
Parry that could tend to the health and comfort of his 
crew, as due attention to cleanliness, superior warmth, 
drying of clothes, airing the bedding, and sleeping in 
hammocs, by which ventilation is materially promoted. 
He says : 

'•' While care was thus taken to adopt all physical means 
within our reach for the maintenance of health and comfort 
among the crews, recourse was also had to some of a moral 
nature, which experience has shown to be useful auxiliaries 
in the promotion of these desirable objects. It would, per- 
haps, indeed he difficult to imagine a situation in which cheer- 
fulness is more to be desired, or less likely to be maintained, 
than among a set of persons (and those persons seamen too) 
secluded for an uncertain and indefinite period from the rest 
of the world ; having little or no employment but that which 
is in a manner created to prevent idleness, and subject to a 
degree of tedious monotony ill according with their usual 
habits. It was not, however, simply as a general principle, 
applicable in a greater or less degree to all situations and 
societies, that the preservation of cheerfulness and good hu- 
mor was in our case particularly desirable, but as imme- 
diately connected with the prevention of that disease to which 
our crews were most liable, and "which indeed, in all human 
probability, we had alone any cause to dread. The astonish- 
ing effects produced by the passions of the mind, in inducing 
or removing scorbutic symptoms, are too well known to need 
confirmation or to admit of doubt ; those calculated to excite 
hope and to impart a sensation of pleasure to the mind having 
been invariably found to aid in a surprising manner the cure 
of this extraordinary disease, and those of an opposite nature 
to aggravate its fatal malignity. As a source, therefore, of 
rational amusement to the men, I proposed to Commander 
Lyon and the officers of both ships once more to set on foot a 
series of theatrical entertainments, from which so much bene- 
fit in this way had on a former occasion been derived. This 
proposal was immediately and unanimously acquiesced in. 
Lyon obligingly undertook to be our manager, and some 
preparation having been made for this purpose previous to 
leaving England, every thing was soon arranged for perform- 
ing a play on board the Fury once a fortnight. In this, as in 
more important matters, our former experience gave many 



CAPTAIN PARRY S SECOND VOYAGE. 119 

useful hints. Our theater was now laid out on a larger and 
more commodious scale ; its decorations much improved ; 
and, what was more essential both to actors and audience, a 
more efficient plan adopted for warming it, by which we 
succeeded in keeping the temperature several degrees above 
zero on each night of performance throughout the winter." — 
P. 122, 123. 

And he adds, in a note, 

" I can not omit to mention that, just before we left Eng- 
land, a large and handsome phantasmagoria, or magic lan- 
tern, had been presented to me, for the use of the expedition, 
by a lady, who persisted in keeping her name a secret from 
those whom she was thus serving. This apparatus, which 
was excellent of its kind, was frequently resorted to during 
this and the succeeding winter; and I am happy to avail 
myself of this mode — the only one in my power — of thanking 
our benefactress, and assuring her that- her present afforded a 
fund of amusement, fully answering her kind intentions." 

No man was better acquainted with the character and 
feelings of seamen than Pany. He knew that mirth, 
and other excitements to cheerfulness, if too often re- 
peated with little or no variation, are apt to lose their 
effect. Fully aware of this, and with a view to higher 
objects, it did not escape his reflection that, during the 
long winter nights, when for a certain period the whole 
day was in fact a night, an opportunity might be afford- 
ed for instructing the men of both ships in at least the 
elementary parts of education. To this end he says, 

■" To furnish rational and useful occupation to the men on 
the other evenings, a school was also established, under the 
voluntary superintendence of Mr. Hulse, for the instruction 
of such of the men as were willing to take advantage of this 
opportunity of learning to read and write, or of improving in 
those acquirements. The same plan was adopted on board 
the Hecla, Benjamin White, one of the seamen, who had been 
educated at Christ-church school, volunteering to officiate as 
schoolmaster. Tables were set up for the purpose in the 
midship part of the lower deck ; some of the men, already 
thus qualified, undertook the task of assisting in the instruction 
of their shipmates ; and thus were about twenty individuals 
belonging to each ship occupied every evening, from six to 
eight o'clock. I made a point of visiting the school occasion- 
ally during the winter, by way of encouraging the men in 
this praiseworthy occupation, and I can safely say that I have 



120 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

seldom experienced feelings of higher gratification than on 
this rare and interesting sight." — P. 123, 124. 

And well might lie be gratified ; for we are assured by 
him, on the return of the ships to England, that " every 
man on board could read his Bible." 

Nor were the interests of science neglected while 
these domestic arrangements were in progress. A port- 
able observatory was erected for magnetical observa- 
tions, and a house built for the reception of the requisite 
instruments for astronomical observations, and for various 
experiments recommended by a committee of the Roy- 
al Society. In short, nothing was neglected or omitted 
that could contribute to the fulfillment of the instructions 
received by the commander of the expedition from the 
Lords of the Admiralty. 

An observation of Parry shows that the Arctic cli- 
mate, equally with our own, is influenced by a change 
of the wind. Thus, on the 20th of October, when the 
wind was N.N.W., the thermometer fell to — 10° ; but 
veering to the S.E. on the 24th and 25th, it rose to 
-j-23°. " I may possibly," he says, " incur the charge 
of affectation in stating that this temperature was much 
too high to be agreeable to us ; but it is, nevertheless, 
the fact, that every body felt and complained of the 
change. This is explained by their clothing, bedding, 
fires, and other precautions against the severity of the 
climate, having been once adapted to a low degree of 
cold, an increase of temperature renders them oppress- 
ive and inconvenient." Another circumstance is men- 
tioned, which may serve to confirm a conjecture which 
has long been maintained by some, that an open sea, 
free of ice, exists at or near the Pole. " On the 2d of 
November " says Parry, " the wind, freshened up to a 
gale from N. by W., lowered the thermometer before 
midnight to — 5°, whereas a rise of wind at Melville 
Island was generally accompanied by a simultaneous rise 
in the thermometer at low temperatures. May not 
this," he asks, "be occasioned by the wind blowing over 
an open sea in the quarter from which the wind blows, 
and tends to confirm the opinion that at or near the Pole 
an open sea free of ice exists ?" If the ice which a sin- 
gle night of six months' continuous duration must pro- 
duce were not dispersed by the current that is known 



CAPTAIN PARRY^ SECOND VOYAGE. 121 

to exist, and which the Pole itself may probably be the 
cause of producing, the north wind, instead of being cold 
and boisterous, would be mild. The aurora and haloes 
round the sun and moon were of frequent appearance, 
but none of them very remarkable. The magnetic nee- 
dle, attentively watched, was not found to be at all af- 
fected by any of these phenomena. 

The shortest day passed without any interest being 
attached to it. " On a former occasion, novelty and the 
peculiarity of our situation gave it importance. Now 
the case was very different; their wintering was no 
longer an experiment ; their comforts were greatly in- 
creased, and the prospect of an early release as favor- 
able as could be desired." On Christmas-day divine 
service was performed on board the Fury, and attended 
by the officers and crews of both ships ; an additional 
allowance of provisions was issued, " and the day was 
marked by the most cheerful hilarity, accompanied by 
the utmost regularity and good order." Among the lux- 
uries was a joint of good English roast beef, preserved 
by the outside being rubbed with salt. The last day of 
the year brought with it the high gratification of observ- 
ing the excellent health and spirits enjoyed by almost 
every officer and man in both ships. The one invalid 
was so much improved that sanguine hopes were enter- 
tained of his continued amendment. 

Having provided for the employment and recreation 
of the men, Parry still seemed to think that it might be 
imagined, as, indeed, had been anticipated, that want of 
novelty was a disadvantage likely to render the confine- 
ment of the officers more tedious than before at Melville 
Island ; but this, he says, was not the case ; the men had 
always employment enough to prevent their being idle, 
though not, perhaps, sufficient to prevent unpleasant 
thoughts from occasionally obtruding themselves ; but the 
officers also had mostly resources within themselves. 
With regard to them, he observes, that " what with 
reading, writing, making and calculating observations, ob- 
serving the various natural phenomena, and taking the 
exercise necessary to preserve our health, nobody, I be- 
lieve, ever felt any symptoms of ennui during our con- 
tinuance in winter quarters." He adds : 
L 



122 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

" Among the recreations which afForded the highest gratifi- 
cation to several among us, I may mention the musical parties 
we were enabled to muster, and which assembled, on stated 
evenings throughout the winter, alternately in Commander 
Lyon's cabin and in my own. More skillful amateurs in music 
might well have smiled at these, our humble concerts ; but it 
will not incline them to think less of the science they admire 
to be assured that, in these remote and desolate regions of the 
globe, it has often furnished us with the most pleasurable sensa- 
tions which our situation was capable of affording ; for. inde- 
pendently of the mere gratification afforded to the ear by music, 
there is, perhaps, scarcely a person in the world, really fond 
of it, in whose mind its sound is not more or less connected 
with ' his far-distant home.' There are always some remem- 
brances which render them inseparable, and those associations 
are not to be despised which, while we are engaged in the 
performance of our duty, can still occasionally transport us 
into the social circle of our friends at home, in spite of the 
oceans that roll between us. 

" With our time thus occupied, our comforts so abundant, 
and the prospect to seaward so enlivening, it would indeed 
have been our own faults had we felt any thing but enjoyment 
in our present state, and the most lively hopes and expecta 
tions for the future." — P. 148. 

The first day of the new year is described as being a 
very severe one in the open air, the thermometer down 
to — 22°, and the wind blowing strong from the N.W., 
on which it may be observed, that the effect of a strong 
breeze on the feelings, even in temperate climates, is 
well known, but at low temperatures it becomes painful 
and almost insupportable. " Thus," says Parry, " with 
the thermometer at — 55°, and no wind Stirling, the 
hands may remain uncovered for ten minutes or a quar- 
ter of an hour without inconvenience ; while, with a 
fresh breeze, and the thermometer nearly as high as 
zero, few people can keep their hands exposed so long 
without considerable pain." By means of Sylvester's 
stove, however, and a judicious arrangement of the flues, 
no inconvenience was felt in the ships, even at the tem- 
perature of — 59°. 

During the cold month of January frequent opportu- 
nities occurred of making a variety of meteorological 
observations on the Aurora Borealis, on parhelia, and 
paraselenae, and, at the same time, Mr. Fisher was fully 



CAPTAIN PARRY S SECOND VOYAGE. 123 

employed in observing the dip, variation, and inclination 
of the magnetic needle. The electrometer was frequent- 
ly applied to the mast-head chain, and the magnetic 
needle constantly watched during all the appearances 
of the Aurora ; but neither of these was on any one oc- 
casion sensibly affected. Franklin, it may be observed, 
on the shores of the Polar Sea, found it otherwise. 

On the 1st of February a new source of novelty and 
amusement most unexpectedly presented itself in the 
approach of some strange people toward the ships. But 
Parry must describe the interview. 

" On the morning of the 1st of February it was reported to 
me that a number of strange people were seen to the west- 
ward, coming toward the ships over the ice. On directing 
a glass toward them we found, them to be Esquimaux, and 
also discovered some appearance of huts on shore at the dis- 
tance of two miles from the ships, m the same direction. I 
immediately set out, accompanied by Commander Lyon, an 
officer from each ship, and two of the men, to meet the na- 
tives, who, to the number of five-and-rwenty, were drawn up 
in a hue abreast, and still advanced slowly toward us. As 
we approached nearer they stood still, remaining as before, 
in a compact line, from which they did not move for some 
time after we reached them. Nothing could exceed their 
quiet and orderly behavior on this occasion, which presented 
a very striking contrast with the noisy demeanor of the natives 
of Hudson's Strait. They appeared at a distance to have 
arrows in their hands, but what we had taken for bows or 
spears proved to be only a few blades of whalebone, which 
they had brought either as a peace-offering or for barter, and 
which we immediately purchased for a few small nails and 
beads. Some of the women, of whom there were three or 
four, as well as two children, in this party, having handsome 
clothes on, which attracted our attention, they began, to our 
utter astonishment and consternation, to strip, though the 
thermometer stood at 23° below zero. We soon found, how- 
ever, that there was nothing so dreadful in this as we at first 
imagined, every individual among them having on a complete 
double suit. The -whole -were of deer skin, and looked both 
clean and comfortable." — P. 159. 

This party conducted themselves with great decorum, 
and without any apprehension visible on then- counte- 
nances or manner ; therefore, as soon as all that they had 
to sell had been purchased, a wish was expressed by 



124 ARCTIC VOYAGES, 

signs to accompany them to their huts. The description 
which follows is curious and interesting : 

" When it is remembered that these habitations were fully 
within sight of the ships, and how many eyes were continually 
on the look-out among us for any thing that could afford variety 
or interest in our present situation, our surprise may in some 
degree be imagined at finding an establishment of five huts, 
with canoes, sledges, dogs, and above sixty men, women, and 
children, as regularly, and to all appearance as permanently 
fixed, as if they had occupied the same spot for the whole 
whiter. If the first view of the exterior of this little village 
was such as to create astonishment, that feeling was in no 
small degree heightened on accepting the invitation soon 
given us to enter these extraordinary houses, in the construc- 
tion of which we observed that not a single material was used 
but snow and ice. After creeping through two low passages, 
having each its arched door-way, we came to a small circular 
apartment, of which the roof was a perfect arched dome. 
From this three door- ways, also arched and of larger dimen- 
sions than the outer ones, led into as many inhabited apart- 
ments, one on each side, and the other facing us as we en- 
tered. The interior of these presented a scene no less novel 
than interesting. The women were seated on the beds at 
the sides of the huts, each having her little fireplace, or lamp, 
with all her domestic utensils about her ; the children crept 
behind their mothers, and the dogs, except the female ones, 
which were indulged with a part of the beds, slunk out past 
us in dismay. The construction of this inhabited part of the 
huts was similar to that of the outer apartment, being a dome 
formed by separate blocks of snow, laid with great regularity 
and no small art, each being cut into the shape requisite to 
form a substantial arch, from seven to eight feet high in the 
center, and having no support whatever but what this princi- 
ple of building supplied. I shall not here farther describe 
the peculiarities of these curious edifices, remarking only that 
a cheerful and sufficient light was admitted to them by a cir- 
cular window of ice, neatly fitted into the roof of each apart- 
ment." — P. 106. 

When we reflect how many volumes have been writ- 
ten, how much discussion has taken place, how much 
learned conjecture on the invention and origin of the 
arch, even in this later age, what merit are we prepared 
to bestow on one of the most rude, the most simple, and 
most isolated race of human beings that exist ? Nature, 
assisted perhaps by observation, has taught this people 
the true principle and construction of the arch. 



CAPTAIN PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE. 125 

" We found," says Parry, " our new acquaintance as 
desirous of pleasing us as we were ready to be pleased." 
A. favorable impression was made on the first interview, 
which was not diminished during a constant intercourse 
of three or four months. These poor creatures, who, 
with all their unfortunate race, have been thrown by 
fate into the least habitable portions of the globe, amid 
eternal ice and snow, possess many valuable and amiable 
qualities, among some others that are less so, and are 
common to all savage or uneducated people. Those of 
the tribe here met with are described in their behavior 
as being in the highest degree respectful, orderly, and 
good humored. They gave the voyagers every reas- 
on to believe that they possessed, in no ordinary de- 
gree, the quality of honesty — a quality not usually 
found among an uncivilized people; "but a quality," 
Parry observes, "the more desirable to us, as we had 
on shore, besides the house and observatory, all our 
boats and other articles, which, had they been disposed 
to pilfer, it would have required all our vigilance to 
guard. If we dropped a glove or a handkerchief with- 
out knowing it, they would immediately direct our atten- 
tion to it by pointing ; and if the owner had left the hut 
before they discovered it, they would run out after him 
to return it. Nay, more, if any thing happened to be 
left at the huts, they would travel down to the ships to 
return it to the owner. A pair of their dogs was pur- 
chased for the Hecla, which broke loose and disappear- 
ed ; but next day two were found chained up on board 
the Fury, which, on inquiry, proved to be the animals 
in question, and which had thus been faithfully restored 
to their rightful owners." Many other instances satis- 
fied the voyagers that dishonesty is not a prominent vice 
among these poor people. 

Judging from the sample who visited the ships at 
Winter Island, they exhibit none of those traits of stu- 
pidity by which they have generally been distinguished, 
but would rather appear to be lively and cheerful than 
to show any signs of dullness. Quiet and orderly, how- 
ever, as they were disposed to bff on then- first visit, 
they betrayed a strong inclination to merriment ; for 
Pany observes, that on Commander Lvon's ordering 
T . 2 



126 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

his fiddler to exhibit upon the Hecla's deck, they danced 
with the seamen for an hour, and then returned in high 
glee and good humor to their huts. Another party took 
great delight in listening to the organ, and to any thing 
in the shape of music, singing, or dancing, of all which 
they appeared to be remarkably fond. 

The same party were asked to go through the pro- 
cess of building a snow -hut for the amusement and in- 
formation of the Europeans. " From the quickness," 
says Parry, " with which they completed this, our sur- 
prise at the sudden appearance of the village ceased, as 
we now saw that two or three hours would be more 
than sufficient to have completed the whole establish- 
ment just as we at first found it." The following day 
a number of natives came on board, according to prom- 
ise, to rebuild the hut in a more substantial manner, and 
to put a plate of ice in the roof as a window, which they 
did with great quickness as well as care, several of the 
women cheerfully assisting in the labor. The men 
seemed to take no small pride in showing in how expe- 
ditious and workmanlike a manner they could perform 
this ; and the hut, with its outer passage, was soon com- 
pleted. But they extend the use of this transparent 
material, applying that of frozen hommocs to other 
purposes. A sledge was required to carry a youth to 
some distance, and none at hand : 

" We found, however, that a man, whom we had observed 
for some time at work among the hommocs of ice upon the 
beach, had been employed in cutting out of that abundant 
material a neat and serviceable little sledge, hollowed like a 
bowl or tray out of a solid block, and smoothly rounded at 
the bottom. The thong to which the dogs were attached was 
secured to a groove cut round its upper edge ; and the young 
seal-catcher, seated in this simple vehicle, was dragged along 
with great convenience and comfort." — P. 206. 

Captain Parry being desirous of trying how far they 
might be disposed to part with their children, proposed 
to buy a fine lad, named Toolooak, for the valuable con- 
sideration of a handsome butcher's knife. His father, 
apparently understanding the meaning, joyfully accepted 
the knife, and the boy set off in high spirits, and at first 
assisted in drawing a sledge ; but beginning, by some 



CAPTAIN PARRY'tf SECOND VOYAGE. 127 

additional signs, more clearly to comprehend the true 
meaning of his situation, took the opportunity to slink 
off among some hommocs of ice, so that, when the 
party arrived on board, Toolooak was missing. 

Toolooak, however, was a constant visitor to Parry* 
and considered himself fully privileged to find his way 
into the cabin. " He sat with me," says Parry, " one 
day for a couple of hours, quietly drawing faces and 
animals, an occupation to which he took a great fancy , 
and we often were reminded by this circumstance of a 
similar propensity displayed by his amiable countryman, 
our lamented friend, John Sackhouse." He goes on 
to say : " We soon found that Toolooak possessed a 
capacity equal to any thing he chose to take an interest 
in learning ; and could he, at his present age, have been 
voluntarily removed from his companions, and his atten- 
tion directed to the acquirement of higher branches of 
knowledge than that of catching seals, he would amply 
have repaid any pains bestowed upon his education." 

An overture made by Parry to this effect, and of re- 
moving him, brought forward, as it was intended, a fine 
trait of feeling and character in this youth, and probably 
not uncommon in this too much despised people. Parry 
adds : 

" I had always entertained a great objection to taking away 
any such individual from his home, on the doubtful chance of 
benefiting himself, or of his doing any service to the public 
as an interpreter. My scruples on this head had hitherto 
been confined to the consideration due to the individual him- 
self, and to the relatives he leaves behind. In our present 
case, however, not the smallest public advantage could be de- 
rived from it; for it had long ago become evident that we 
should soon know more of the Esquimaux language than any 
of them were likely to learn of English, in any reasonable pe- 
riod of time : I was, therefore, far from desiring to receive 
from Toolooak an answer in the affirmative, when I to-day 
plainly put the question to him, whether he would go with 
me to Kabloona Noona (European country) ? Never was a 
more decisive negative given than Toolooak gave to this pro- 
posal. He eagerly repeated the word, Na-o (No), half a doz- 
en times, and then told me that if he went away his father 
would cry. This simple but irresistible appeal to paternal af- 
fection, his decisive manner of making it, and the feelings by 
which his reply was evidently dictated, were just what could 



128 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

have beeu wished. No more could be necessary to convince 
those who witnessed it that these people may justly lay equal 
claim, with ourselves, to these common feelings of our nature : 
and having once satisfied myself of this, I determined never 
again to excite in Toolooak's mind another disagreeable sen- 
sation by talking to him on this subject." — P. 173, 174. 

On an early visit to the huts, which was made by- 
Parry, he found only women and children, the men 
having gone on a sealing excursion ; one of the former, 
named Iligliuk, the mother of the lad Toolooak, favored 
him with a song, which, he says, gave proofs of her 
" having a remarkably soft voice, an excellent ear, and 
a great fondness for singing. We had, on then first 
visit to the ships, remarked this trait in Iligliuk's dispo- 
sition when she was listening, for the first time, to the 
sound of the organ, of which she seemed never to have 
enough, and almost eveiy day she now began to display 
some symptom of that superiority of understanding for 
which she was so remarkably distinguished." 

This Esquimaux female was indeed a most extraor- 
dinary creature, and one that would have distinguished 
herself in any society, not merely by her musical cra- 
vings, for her whole soul appears to have been music, 
but more by her untaught intellectual powers. In her 
exhibition of the former quality, on various occasions, 
she is chargeable only with one of the two vices which 
Horace brings against the whole tribe of singers in his 
day — omnibus cantoribus — so far from requiring to be 
coaxed, she was always most ready to sing ; but Parry 
says, " there was scarcely any stopping her when she had 
once begun." A party of her countrywomen were one 
day on board, when, to amuse them, the little band of 
flutes and violins was struck up, and also some songs, 
with which they were all delighted. " I feared," Parry 
says, " that some of them, especially Iligliuk, would 
have gone into fits with rapture when we introduced 
into our song some of their names mingled with our 
own." It was enough, we are told, for this interesting 
creature just to make the motion of turning the handle 
of the organ, which, conveying to her mind the idea of 
music, was always sure to put her immediately into 
h igh spirits. 



129 

A trait of the superior character and proud feeling of 
this remarkable female manifested itself at an early pe- 
riod, which, among many others, appears to be quite 
sufficient to prove that such persons as Iligliuk, her son 
Toolooak, and John Sackhouse, require but a moderate 
degree of education to give them a due place in civilized 
society. Parry says : 

" On the 28th of Februaiy, Okotook (the husband of Iligli- 
uk), with his wife, came on board, when an occurrence took 
place, which, as it shows the disposition of the Esquimaux, and 
especially of one of the most intelligent and interesting among 
them, I may here relate. Some time before, Ilghuik, who, 
from the superior neatness and cleanliness with which she 
performed her work, was by this time in great request as a 
seamstress, had promised to cover for me a little model of a 
canoe, and had in fact sent it to me by the sergeant of marines, 
though I had not rightly understood from the latter from 
which of the women it came. Believing that she had failed 
in her promise, I now taxed her with it, when she immedi- 
ately defended herself with considerable warmth and seri- 
ousness, but without making me comprehend her meaning. 
Finding that she was wasting her words upon me, she said 
no more till an hour afterward, when the sergeant accident- 
ally coming into the cabin, she, with the utmost composure, 
but with a decision of manner peculiar to herself, took hold 
of his arm to engage his attention, and then looking him stead- 
fastly in the face, accused him of not having faithfully execu- 
ted her commission to me. The mistake was thus instantly 
explained, and I thanked Ihgliuk for her canoe ; but it is im- 
possible for me to describe the quiet, yet proud satisfaction 
displayed in her countenance at having thus cleared herself 
from the imputation of a breach of promise." — P. 179, 180. 

But the superior intelligence of this extraordinary 
woman was, perhaps, most apparent in the readiness 
with which she was made to comprehend the mode of 
communicating a knowledge of the geographical outline 
of the sea-coast of the country, and of the islands that 
were near it. The first attempt of this kind was by 
placing several sheets of paper before Ihgliuk, and draw- 
ing roughly on a large scale an outline of the land about 
Repulse Bay and Lyon Inlet, and continuing it north- 
erly to the present winter station of the ships. The 
scale being large, it was necessary, when she came to 
the end of one piece of paper, to tack on another, till at 
9 



130 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

length she had filled ten or twelve sheets, and had com- 
pletely lost sight of Winter Island at the other end of 
the table. Two charts, one made by Iligliuk for Com- 
mander Lyon, are given (in the volume) on a reduced: 
scale ; and very extraordinary they are, containing, 
though with much error, a general correct view of the 
coast, and of its communication with the western coast 
of the Polar Sea. Parry says : 

" Being extremely desirous of obtaining more certain infor- 
mation on this part of the subject, it occurred to me to attempt 
the thing with Iligliuk on a smaller scale, such as might ena- 
ble her to keep in view, at the same time, every part of the 
coast to be delineated. This attempt was also much favored 
by our having lately obtained the Esquimaux words for the 
four cardinal points of the horizon, which were, therefore, 
previously laid down by lines on the chart. Having, in addi- 
tion to this, delineated the usual portion of the coast, and 
made Iligliuk ' box the compass' repeatedly, so as to render 
her quite familiar with the exact relative position of the lands 
we had laid down, we desired her to complete the rest, and 
to do it mikhce (small), when, with a countenance of the most 
grave attention and peculiar intelligence, she drew the coast 
of the continent beyond her own country, as lying nearly north 
from Winter Island. The most important part still remained, 
and it would have amused an unconcerned looker-on to have 
observed the anxiety and suspense depicted on the counte- 
nances of our part of the group till this was accomplished, 
for never were the tracings of a pencil watched with more 
eager solicitude. Our surprise and satisfaction may therefore, 
in some degree, be imagined when, without taking it from 
the paper, Iligliuk brought the continental coast short round 
to the westward, and afterward to the S.S.W., so as to come 
within three or four days' journey of Repulse Bay. The coun- 
try thus situated upon the shores of the Western or Polar Sea 
is called Akkoolee, and is inhabited by numerous Esquimaux ; 
and half way between that coast and Repulse Bay Iligliuk 
drew a lake of considerable size, having small streams run- 
ning from it to the sea on each side. To this lake her coun- 
trymen are annually in the habit of resorting during the sum- 
mer, and catch there large fish of the salmon kind, while on 
the banks are found abundance of reindeer. To the westward 
of Akkoolee, as far as they can see from the hills, which she 
described as high ones, nothing can be distinguished but one 
wide-extended sea. Being desirous of seeing whether Iligli- 
uk would interfere with Wager River, as we know it to exist. 



CAPTIAN PARRY S SECOND VOYAGE. 13 i 

I requested her to continue the coast-line to the southward of 
Akkoolee, when she immediately dropped the pencil, and said 
she knew no more about it." — P. 197, 198. 

Well might Parry consider this new information, thus 
unexpectedly opened to him, as a satisfactory prospect 
of his soon rounding the northeastern point of America, 
which, in point of fact, he subsequently discovered to be 
as, and where, represented by this intelligent woman. 
To her alone, therefore, is the merit due of the discov- 
ery of the extreme northern boundary of America, or, 
which is the same thing, the northeastern extremity of 
that continent, which Captain Parry is told, in his in 
structions, to be the object next to the finding a passage 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is true that he might, 
in his progress along the coast on which he was about to 
proceed, have made the discoveiy, but the confidence he 
placed in the indication he had acquired from the Esqui- 
maux lady was sufficient to induce a more than common 
attention to the spot where it received full confirmation. 

Nor were the powers of mind in this superior woman 
confined to the love of music, or drawing, or needle-work; 
every thing she observed the people of the ships to be 
employed upon caught her attention. One day, accom- 
panied by her husband and son, they paid a visit to the 
ships, and the season for departure approaching, being 
desirous, says Parry, of entertaining them well, after 
providing abundance to eat, we showed them every thing 
about the ship^that we thought likely to amuse them : 

" Of all the wonders they had ever witnessed on board, 
there was nothing that seemed to impress them so strongly 
with a sense of our superiority as the forge, and the work 
which the armorer performed with it. The welding of two 
pieces of iron especially excited their admiration, and I never 
saw Iligliuk express so much astonishment at any thing be- 
fore. Even in this her superior good sense was observable, 
for it was evident that the utility of what she saw going on 
was what forced itself upon her mind ; and she watched ev- 
ery stroke of the hammer, and each blast of the bellows, with 
extreme eagerness, while numbers of other Esquimaux looked 
stupidly on, without expressing the smallest curiosity or in- 
terest in the operation, except by desiring to have some spear 
heads fashioned out by this means." — P. 210. 

Her attention to her husband, who was taken ill, was 



132 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

very striking. Having, together with him, been three 
hours on a sledge, Mr. Bushnan, who was of the party, 
told Parry that Iligliuk had scarcely taken her eyes off 
her husband's face the whole time, and seemed almost 
worn out with fatigue and anxiety. Her husband took 
a dose of physic for the first time in his life, and not 
without great dread ; " before he put the cup to his lips 
with one hand, he held on by his wife with the other, 
and she by him with both hers, as though they expected 
an explosion. Iligliuk had one side of her hair loose, and 
now loosened the other also, fancying Okotook to be 
worse ; for even in this sequestered corner of the globe 
disheveled locks bespeak mourning." Hers, however, 
Parry says, was not the mere semblance of grief, for she 
was really much distressed throughout the day. 

It is pleasing to dwell on these amiable traits of char- 
acter in one whom the world at large would set down, 
being an Esquimaux, as little, if it all, removed from the 
ordinary race of savages ; and it is only from such a man 
as Parry and his associates that her virtues, and her un- 
accountable strength and clearness of understanding, could 
have been brought out and duly appreciated. Would 
that, by making publicly known to the world this de- 
spised and persecuted race (for nothing short of per- 
secution could have driven them to take up their abode 
in these extreme parts of the globe, amid ice and snow, 
where worse than Cimmerian darkness dwells for half 
the year) — would that they might be looked upon more 
generally than they are as rational beings, and treated 
accordingly. Theirs, it must be confessed, is a most 
cruel and wretched lot, for whom any permanent relief 
appears to be hopeless, surrounded as they are in every 
part of the coast-land bounding the dreary Polar Sea — 
in Asia, Europe, and America — and driven as they are 
into by-creeks and corners, or what is still worse, by the 
savage Indians of the northern parts of America, to the 
very shores of that sea — the Ultima Thule of all civili- 
zation — what hope, then, is there that any change or 
any exertion of humane and well-disposed communities 
can afford them relief from a state of perpetual oppres- 
sion, miseiy, and starvation ? 

At the same time that Parry dwells with pleasure on 



CAPTAIN PARRY S SECOND VOYAGE, 133 

the virtues and the superior understanding of Iligliuk, he 
is not blind to her failings, the chief of which appears 
to be vanity (to which he has himself not a little contrib- 
uted), selfishness, and ingratitude. " I am compelled to 
acknowledge," he says, " that in proportion as the su- 
perior understanding of this extraordinary woman became 
more and more developed, her head (for what female 
head is indifferent to praise ?) began to be turned with 
the general attention and numberless presents she re- 
ceived." She refused, it seems, on the eve of parting, 
Commander Lyon's request to her to make for him a 
few little models of their clothing; "which," Parry ob- 
serves, " shows in a strong light that deep-rooted selfish- 
ness that, in numberless instances, detracted from the 
amiability of her disposition." 

It is not quite clear, from what occurred on the day 
that Okotook and Iligliuk came on board to pay their last 
visit, that Parry did not unintentionally offend the pride 
of the latter. He says : " As these good folks found them- 
selves perfectly at home in my cabin, I was usually in 
the habit of continuing my occupations when they were 
there without being disturbed by them. Being now en- 
gaged in writing, my attention was unexpectedly direct- 
ed toward them by Iligliuk's suddenly starting from her 
seat, moving quickly toward the door, and, without say- 
ing a word either to me or any of the officers present, 
hastening directly on deck. Okotook, indeed, as he fol- 
lowed her out of the cabin, turned round and said ' Good- 
by ;' and, without giving us time to return the compli- 
ment, they both hurried out of the ship, leaving us in 
some astonishment at this singular leave-taking." It is 
not unnatural to suppose that, after so long and friendly 
an intercourse, they should, on this particular visit, feel 
themselves somewhat neglected ; it could hardly be ex- 
pected that they should not feel, on such an occasion, an 
apparent indifference so contrary to the uniform atten- 
tion and kindness they had received. But Parry found 
a change had taken place in Iligliuk's conduct, and ex- 
plains the causes which gave rise to it. 

" I am, however, compelled to acknowledge that the supe- 
rior decency and even modesty of her behavior had com- 
bined, with her intellectual qualities, to raise her in our esti- 
M 



134 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

mation far above her companions ; and I often heard others 
express, what I could not but agree in, that for Iligliuk alone, 
of all the Esquimaux women, that kind of respect would be 
entertained which modesty in a female never fails to com- 
mand in our sex. Thus regarded, she had always been free- 
ly admitted into the ships, the quarter-masters at the gan gway 
never thinking of refusing entrance to the ' wise won; an,' as 
they called her. Whenever any explanation was necessary 
between the Esquimaux and us, Iligliuk was sent for, quite 
as an interpreter; information was chiefly obtained through 
her, and she thus found herself rising into a degree of conse- 
quence to which, but for us, she could never have attained. 
It may not, therefore, be wondered at if she became giddy 
with her exaltation, assuming airs which, though infinitely di- 
versified in their operation, according to circumstances, per- 
haps universally attend a too sudden accession of good for- 
tune in every child of Adam from the Equator to the Poles. 
The consequence was, Iligliuk was soon spoiled ; considered 
her admission into the ships, and most of the cabins, no lon- 
ger as an indulgence, but a right ; ceased to return the slight- 
est acknowledgment for any kindness or presents ; became 
listless and inattentive in unraveling the meaning of our ques- 
tions, and careless whether her answers conveyed the infor- 
mation we desired. In short, Iligliuk in February and Ili- 
gliuk in April were confessedly very different persons ; and it 
was at last amusing to recollect, though not very easy to per- 
suade one's self, that the -woman who now sat demurely in a 
chair, so confidently expecting the notice of those around her, 
and she who had at first, with eager and wild delight, assist- 
ed in cutting snow for the building of a hut, and with the 
hope of obtaining a single needle, were actually one and the 
same individual.''— P. 219, 220. 

Iligliuk was unquestionably altered and spoiled, and to 
Captain Parry and his associates was owing the meta- 
morphosis ; but it was a natural consequence, and could 
not be otherwise ; nor does the change in her conduct 
detract in any degree from that quiet, orderly, and cheer- 
ful behavior which prevailed almost universally among 
the tribe to which she belonged. 

Of the peculiar habits, the disposition, the general char- 
acter, the resources and employments, and the state of 
society among these poor creatures, doomed to consume 
their lives in this country, the most dreary and dismal, 
perhaps, in the whole world, Parry has given a full ac- 
count in his concluding chapter. Here, however, the 



CAPTAIN PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE. 135 

occurrences only will be mentioned. As a general one, 
it may be stated that, during the months of March, April, 
arid May, when they depend mostly on the capture of 
the seal and the walrus, which is attended with the great- 
est difficulty and watchfulness on the ice, the whole 
tribe may be said to be literally in a state of starvation. 
Had they not, indeed, on many occasions, been supplied 
from the ships, numbers of them must undoubtedly 
have perished of hunger. All the bread-dust was col- 
lected and preserved for their use ; yet, in the height of 
their distress, they appeared never to be deprived of that 
happy and cheerful temper of mind, and that good hu- 
mor which they naturally possessed, and preserved, even 
when severely pinched by hunger and cold, and wholly 
deprived, for days together, of food, and light, and fuel, 
privations to which they were constantly liable. But no 
calamity of this kind, frequently as it occurs, has taught 
them to be provident. They live but from day to day : 
with them it is always a feast or a famine ; they will eat 
at any period of the day when victuals are to be had, 
from five to eight pounds of animal food. From May to 
October, when the migratory animals have arrived from 
the southward — the musk-ox, the reindeer, the hares, 
the swans, and various other fowls and quadrupeds — they 
are able to procure a good supply of food ; and those few 
who add frugality to their industry, contrive to pound 
the flesh with the fat of the animal, and make a little of 
what they call pemmican, for preservation — a compound 
well known to our Arctic voyagers. In the early part 
of April, some of the tribe that frequented the Winter 
Island began to migrate from the seashore to the west- 
ward in quest of food ; and the change of scene in their 
once happy village, and more especially in their clean 
and comfortable snow huts while new, is thus described : 

" On going out to the village, we found one half of the peo- 
ple had quitted their late habitations, taking with them ev- 
ery article of their property, and had gone over the ice, we 
knew not where, in quest of more abundant food. The 
wretched appearance which the interior of the huts now pre- 
sented baffles all description. In each of the larger ones 
-some of the apartments were either wholly or in part desert- 
ed f the very snow which composed the beds and fireplaces 



130 ARCTIC VOYAGES, 

having been turned up, that no article might be left behind, 
Even the bare walls, whose original color was scarcely per- 
ceptible for lampblack, blood, and other filth, were not left 
perfect, large holes having been made in the sides and roof& 
for the convenience of handing out the goods and chattels. 
The sight of a deserted habitation is at all times calculated 
to excite in the mind a sensation of dreariness and desolation, 
especially when we have lately seen it filled with cheerful 
inhabitants ; but the feeling is even heightened rather than 
diminished when a small portion of these inhabitants remain 
behind to endure the wretchedness which such a scene ex- 
hibits. This was now the case at the village, where, though 
the remaining tenants of each hut had combined to- occupy 
one of the apartments, a great part of the bed-places were 
still bare, and the wind and drift blowing in through the 
holes which they had not yet taken the trouble to stop up. 
The old man Hikkeiera and his wife occupied a hut by them- 
selves, without any lamp or a single ounce of meat "Belonging 
to them ; while three small skins, on which the former was 
lying, were all that they possessed in the way of blankets. 
Upon the whole, I never beheld a more miserable spectacle, 
and it seemed a charity to hope that a violent and constant 
cough with which the old man was afflicted would speedily 
combine with his age and infirmities to release him from his 
present sufferings. Yet in the midst of all this he was even 
cheerful, nor was there a gloomy countenance to be seen at 
the village."— P. 201, 203. 

There is something very extraordinary, as it would 
appear, in the physical constitution of^these people. At 
this moment, when in want of every kind of subsistence, 
and kept alive by the distribution of bread-dust, on a 
hint from the commander that he wished the females 
to let him witness some of their games, the proposal was 
scarcely made before every female that was left in the 
village, not excepting even the oldest of them, joined in 
the performance of singing and in never-ceasing merri- 
ment and laughter. " Neither the want of food and fu- 
el, nor the uncertain prospect of obtaining any that night, 
were sufficient to deprive these poor creatures of that 
cheerfulness and good humor which it seems at all times 
their peculiar happiness to enjoy." Their hilarity was 
not disturbed this night, for positive intelligence arrived 
from the ice that two walruses had been taken. " If,"" 
says Parry, " the women were only cheerful before, 
they were now absolutely frantic." 



CAPTAIN PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE. 137 

The end of May having arrived, and the Esquimaux 
being ready to depart to the northward, the commander 
made them what they considered a most valuable pres- 
ent, which produced in the women such immoderate fits 
of laughter as to amount almost to hysterics, which were 
succeeded by a flood of tears. The men seemed thank- 
ful, though less noisy in their acknowledgments. " On 
taking their departure," says Parry, " these good-hu- 
mored and ever-cheerful people greeted us with three 
cheers in the true Kabloona (English) style." 

Little deserving of notice occurred till the middle of 
June, when the expedition also was preparing to depart 
to the northward, by cutting out the ships from the 
ice, taking down the tents and the observatory, and em- 
barking the instruments ; but, before leaving Winter 
Island, after a residence of nine months, Commander 
Parry states, " It becomes my painful duty to turn from 
these busy occupations, where animation, cheerfulness, 
and hope prevailed, to the sad and solemn scenes of 
sickness and of death, for with both of these did it please 
the Almighty to visit us at this period." Two seamen, 
S outer and Reid, in Parry's ship, died; and one, Prin- 
gle, in Lyon's. They were buried in the same grave ; 
the former with a handsome tomb of stone and mortar 
over it, and a slab of the same kind, with a suitable in- 
scription, over the latter. 

It was not till the 2d of July that the ships were 
moved out of their winter's dock, and they put to sea on 
the 8th with no very favorable auspices of what was to 
befall them in their progress to the northward, along the 
eastern coast of North America. The dangers that 
threatened them at starting will be seen from Command- 
er Lyon's report : 

" The flood tide coming down loaded with a more than or- 
dinary quantity of ice, pressed the ship very much between 
six and seven A.M., and rendered it necessary to run out the 
stream cable, in addition to the hawsers which were fast to 
the land ice. This was scarcely accomplished when a very 
heavy and extensive floe took the ship on her broadside, and, 
being backed by another large body of ice, gradually lifted 
her stem as if by the action of a wedge. The weight, every 
moment increasing, obliged us to veer on the hawsers, whose 
friction was so great as nearly to cut through the bitt-heads, 
M2 



138 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

and ultimately set them on fire, so that it became requisite 
for people to attend with buckets of water. The pressure 
was at length too powerful for resistance, and the stream ca- 
ble, with two six and one five inch hawsers, went at the same 
moment. Three others soon followed. The sea was too full 
of ice to allow the ship to drive, and the only way by which 
she could yield to the enormous weight which oppressed her 
was by leaning over the land-ice, while her stem, at the same 
time, was entirely lifted more than five feet out of the water. 
The lower deck beams now complained very much, and the 
whole frame of the ship underwent a trial which would have 
proved fatal to any less strengthened vessel. At this moment 
the rudder was unhung with a sudden jerk, which broke up 
the rudder case and struck the driver boom with great force. 
In this state I made known our situation by telegraph, as I 
clearly saw that, in the event of another floe backing the one 
which lifted us, the ship must inevitably turn over, or part in 
midships. The pressure which had been so dangerous at 
length proved our friend, for by its increasing weight the floe 
on which we were borne burst upward, unable to resist its 
force. The ship righted, and, a small slack opening in the 
water, drove several miles to the southward before she could 
be again secured to get the rudder hung ; circumstances 
much to be regretted at the moment, as our people had been 
employed with but little intermission for three days and 
nights, attending to the safety of the ship in this dangerous 
tideway."— P. 258. 

The Fury had almost as narrow an escape as the 
Hecla. The next day the Fury for an hour or two was 
continually grazed, and sometimes heeled over, by a de- 
gree of pressure which, under other circumstances, 
would not have been a moderate one. 

* A little before noon, a heavy floe, some miles in length, 
being probably a part of that lately detached from the shore, 
came driving down fast toward us, giving us serious reason 
to apprehend some more fatal catastrophe than any we had 
yet encountered. In a few minutes it came in contact, at the 
rate of a mile and a half an hour, with a point of the land-ice 
left the preceding night by its own separation, breaking it up 
with a tremendous crash, and forcing numberless immense 
masses, perhaps many tons in weight, to the height of fifty or 
sixty feet, from whence they again rolled down oix the inner 
or land side, and were quickly succeeded by a fresh supply. 
While we were obliged to be quiet spectators of this grand 
but terrific sight, being within five or six hundred yards of 



CAPTAIN PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE. 139 

the point, the danger to ourselves was twofold ; first, lest the 
floe should now swing in, and serve us much in the same 
manner ; and, secondly, lest its pressure should detach the 
land-ice to which we were secured, and thus set us adrift to 
the mercy of the tides. Happily, however, neither of these 
occurred, the floe remaining stationary for the rest of the 
tide, and setting off with the ebb which made soon after." — 
P. 260. 

In addition to the danger which threatened to crush 
and overwhelm the ships among these tremendous mass- 
es of ice thus thrown into violent commotion, was the 
chance of being beset in the midst of the floes, and in 
that helpless state swept away with the flood tide and 
current to the southward, and drifted back again to 
Southampton Island, as had happened to them before, 
and thus again would the labor of weeks be inevitably 
lost. By the 12th of July, however, after long and un- 
remitting perseverance, and by taking advantage of every 
opening and breeze of wind to move the ships to the 
northward, they had reached the latitude of 67° 18', op- 
posite to a considerable opening in the land, out of which 
a strong current was observed to set into the sea. It 
had not the least appearance of a passage ; but as it of- 
fered a security against any ice coming in, Parry deter- 
mined to anchor as near it as possible, and to examine 
what he justly supposed to be a fresh- water river; and 
a fresh-water river, as may be supposed, was too great 
a luxury, as well as novelty, in a region of ice and snow, 
to be slightly passed over. The boats of both ships were 
therefore employed in landing parties to partake of this 
oasis in the desert. 

" Landing on the south shore and hauling the boats up 
above high-water mark, we rambled up the banks of the 
stream, which are low next the water, but rise almost im- 
mediately to the height of about two hundred feet. As we 
proceeded we gradually heard the noise of a fall of water ; 
and being presently obliged to strike more inland, as the 
bank became more precipitous, soon obtained a fresh view 
of the stream, running on a much higher level than before, 
and dashing with great impetuosity down two small cata- 
racts. Just below this, however, where the river turns al- 
most at a right angle, we perceived a much greater spray, 
as well as a louder sound ; and having walked a short dis- 



140 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

tance down the bank, suddenly came upon the principal fall, 
of whose magnificence I am at a loss to give any adequate 
description. At the head of the fall, or where it commences 
its principal descent, the river is contracted to about one 
hundred and fifty feet in breadth, the channel being hol- 
lowed out through a solid rock of gneiss. After tailing 
about fifteen feet, at an angle of 30° with a vertical line, the 
width of the stream is still narrowed to about forty yards, 
and then, as if mustering its whole force previous to its final 
descent, is precipitated in one vast continuous sheet of water 
almost perpendicularly for ninety feet more. So nearly, in- 
deed, is the rock perpendicular, that we were enabled to let 
down a sounding lead, and line for the purpose of measuring 
its actual height, while a man descended from crag to crag 
with a second line attached to him, to see when the lead 
touched the water below. The dashing of the water from 
such a height produced the usual accompaniment of a cloud 
of spray, broad columns of which were constantly forced up, 
like the successive rushes of smoke from a vast furnace, and 
on this, near the top, a vivid iris or rainbow was occasion- 
ally formed by the bright rays of an unclouded sun. ' The 
roaring of the mountain-cataract,' which constitutes a prin- 
cipal feature of the sublime in scenery of this magnificent 
nature, was here almost deafening ; and as we were able to 
approach the head of the fall even so close as a single yard, 
the very rock seemed to suffer a concussion under our feet. 
The basin that receives the water at the foot of the fall is 
nearly of a circular form, and about four hundred yards in 
diameter, being rather wider than the river immediately 
below it. The fall is about three quarters of a mile above 
our landing-place, or two miles and a quarter from the en- 
trance of the river. After remaining nearly an hour, fixed, 
as it were, to the spot by the novelty and magnificence of the 
scene before us, we continued our walk upward along the 
banks, and, after passing the two smaller cataracts, found the 
river again increased in width to above two hundred yards, 
winding in the most romantic manner imaginable among the 
hills, and preserving a smooth and unruffled surface for a dis- 
tance of three or four miles that we traced it to the southwest 
above the fall. What added extremely to the beauty of this 
picturesque river, which Commander Lyon and myself named 
after our mutual friend, Mr. Barrow, secretary to the Admi- 
ralty, was the richness of the vegetation on its banks, the en- 
livening brilliancy of a cloudless sky, and the animation giv- 
en to the scene by several reindeer that were grazing beside 
the stream."— P. 264, 265, 



CAPTAIN PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE. 141 

Returning on board, they found a strong southerly- 
breeze to have driven the ice off from the shore, afford- 
ing an open channel between the ice and the land of not 
less than nine miles in width. Up this they proceeded, 
and passed several headlands, to each of which they 
gave a name. Such was the advantage of a fair wind 
and open water, that, as Parry says, "we had been fa- 
vored with an unobstructed run of fifty miles : an event 
of no trifling importance in this tedious and uncertain 
navigation." The great increase in the number of sea- 
horses confirmed the navigators in the belief that they 
were now approaching Amitioke, the country of Iligliuk, 
in the neighborhood of which she and her companions 
had frequently represented them as abundant. As they 
proceeded, these walruses became more and more nu- 
merous every hour, lying in large herds upon the loose 
pieces of drift-ice, huddled close to and lying upon each 
other, in separate droves of from twelve to thirty, the 
whole number near the boats being probably about two 
hundred. 

On the 16th a great deal of high land was brought in 
sight to the northward and eastward, which, on the first 
inspection of the Esquimaux charts, was decided to be 
that large portion between which and the continent lay 
the promised strait, that was to lead the ships to the 
westward into the Polar Sea. So far all was satisfac- 
tory ; " but, after sailing a few miles farther, it is impos- 
sible to describe our disappointment and mortification on 
perceiving an unbroken sheet of ice extending complete- 
ly across the supposed passage, from one land to the 
other." Here they were joined by several Esquimaux, 
but none of their old friends, who had not yet arrived at 
any of their stations. They obtained from the new ones, 
however, one very interesting piece of information, name- 
ly, that it was Igloolik on which they were now about 
to land, and which they knew from their Winter-Island 
friends, Iligliuk in particular, was near to the strait that 
was to conduct them into the Polar Sea. In this neigh- 
borhood were numerous Esquimaux of the same friend- 
ly and cheerful character as those of Winter Island, but 
apparently somewhat less intellectual. Parry now, how- 
ever, had but one great object at heart, which was to at- 



142 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

tempt the navigation of the strait. The ships made sev- 
eral ineffectual endeavors ; but the whole entrance, up 
to the narrowest part, was so blocked up with old ice not 
likely to remove, and the middle of August having ar 
rived, he determined at least to satisfy his mind as to its 
communication with the Polar Sea. 

It will readily be believed that " every hour's delay 
added an indescribable weight to his anxiety ;" and "stop- 
ped," he says, " as we had now been, at the very thresh- 
old of the Northwest Passage for nearly four weeks, 
without advancing twice as many miles to the westward, 
suspense at such a crisis was scarcely the less painful 
because we knew it to be inevitable." He therefore de- 
termined on attempting a journey to the westward, en- 
deavoring first to reach some of the islands lying in that 
direction, and by passing from one to the other, at length 
to gain the mam land, from whence it might not, per- 
haps, be difficult to travel to the strait itself, and " thus 
to end every doubt as well as every conjecture respect- 
ing it." 

Accordingly, on the 14th of August he set out, on the 
17th crossed the Bouverie Islands, and on the following 
day arrived at a peninsula, which he examined, and pro- 
ceeded to its extreme northern point, which was found 
to overlook the narrowest part of the desired strait, of 
which he gives the following brief account : 

" The strait lay immediately below us, in about an east and 
west direction, being two miles in width, apparently very 
deep, and with a tide or current of at least two knots, setting 
the loose ice through to the eastward. Beyond us, to the 
west, the shores again separated to the distance of several 
leagues, and for more than three points of the compass in that 
direction no land could be seen to the utmost limits of a clear 
horizon, except one island six or seven miles distant. Over 
this we could entertain no doubt of having discovered the 
Polar Sea ; and, loaded as it was with ice, we already felt as 
if we were on the point of forcing our way through it along 
the northern shores of America. 

" After dispatching one of our party to the foot of the point 
for some of the sea water, which was found extremely salt to 
the taste, we hailed the interesting event of the morning by 
three hearty cheers, and by a small extra allowance of grog 
to our people, to drink a safe and speedy passage through the 
channel just discovered, which I ventured to name, by antic 



rpation, the Strait of the Fury and Hecla. Having built a 
pile of stones on the promontory, which, from its situation 
with respect to the continent of America, I called Cape North- 
east, we walked back to our tent and luggage, these having, 
for the sake of greater expedition, been left two miles behind, 
and, after resting a few hours, set out at 3 P.M. on our re- 
turn."— P. 312. 

This little journey proved satisfactory as far as it 
went; it gave to Parry a personal view of the strait, 
and satisfied him that its water was that of the sea. But 
as the northeast point from which he saw it forms the 
eastern entrance only from the south side of the strait, 
and he deemed it expedient that something more of it 
should be known, he took measures accordingly. In the 
course of a week following, a light northeasterly breeze 
allowed the ships to be steered under all possible sail up 
the strait. By keeping on the south or continental shore, 
and passing along by Cape Northeast within two or three 
hundred yards of the rocks, they succeeded, with the 
assistance of the boats ahead, in getting through the nar- 
row channel. The length of this narrowest part of the 
strait is said to extend about three miles in the direction 
of west by north : it is here two miles across, and keeps 
its width the whole way through this narrow part. Two 
considerable islands almost shut up the said part, named 
by Parry Ormond and Liddon Islands; the southern 
point on the former of which, being directly opposite to 
Cape Northeast, forms the northern point of the narrow 
entrance, to which Parry assigned the name of Cape 
Ossoiy. The ships, however, were soon stopped by 
apparently permanent ice clinging to the shores of the 
above-mentioned islands and of the continent ; " and 
thus," says Parry, " after a vexatious delay of six weeks 
at the eastern entrance of the strait, and at a time when 
we had every reason to hope that Nature, though hith- 
erto tardy in her annual disruption of the ice, had at 
length made an effort to complete it, did we find our prog- 
ress once more opposed by a barrier of the same con- 
tinuous, impenetrable, and hopeless nature as at first." 

Hopeless as it was that much more could be done, as 
concerned the movements of the expedition, now that 
the month of August was just expiring, Parry very prop- 
erly determined that all doubts should be satisfied, as 



144 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

well as that every information should be gained, as to the 
length of the strait, and the extent of the fixed ice there- 
in. For this purpose, three exploring parties were sent 
out in different directions ; that for deciding the point in 
question consisted of Mr. Bushnan with three men, un- 
der the orders of Lieutenant Reid, who was instructed 
to proceed along the northern coast of the strait to the 
westward, to gain as much information as possible re- 
specting the termination of the strait, and to return to 
the ships in four days. By his report it appears that, 
by an observation on the second day of his journey, the 
latitude he reached was 70° 00' 05", and that from this 
point he could perceive that the opposite or main-land 
(that is, the south shore of the strait) gradually trended 
to the southward, leaving a broad entrance into the west- 
ern sea. He says : " The weather being clear, afforded 
us an extensive prospect to the westward, and we could 
now perceive that a bluff near the north shore, which 
had before appeared insular, formed, in reality, the north- 
ern point of the entrance, and I named it Cape Hallow- 
ell, out of respect to Vice-admiral Sir Benjamin Hallow- 
ell." To a fine bay on the Cockburn-Island shore (the 
north) he gave the name of Autridge, and to an inlet in 
the same land that of White ; and he concludes this part 
of his report by saying that "the opening'of the strait 
into the Polar Sea was now so decided, that I consider- 
ed the principal object of my journey accomplished." 
It would have been more satisfactory if Mr. Reid had 
been a little more circumstantial in his observation on the 
two western points of the strait ; that which is named 
Englefield on the chart, but by whose authority does 
not appear, is not mentioned as a cape, gradually trend- 
ing to the southward, and leaving a broad entrance into 
the Western Sea. It may hardly be necessary to ob- 
serve that a point of land seen obliquely from a distance 
of twenty or thirty miles must be very unsatisfactorily 
laid down on paper. The width between the two shores 
opening into the sea appears to be about six or seven 
miles, which, compared with its length of sixty miles, 
can scarcely be called a " magnificent passage." Its ca- 
pacity, however, notwithstanding the obstructing islands, 
may be amply sufficient to admit a passage into the Po- 



CAPTAIN PARRY S SECONi* VOYAGE. 145 

iar Sea for ships of a moderate size, though it is pretty- 
certain that no ship will ever attempt it, not merely on 
account of the ice with which it appears to be perma- 
nently blocked up, but also of the perpetual current set- 
ting down it, occasioning such a tumultuous swell and 
disturbance among the ice as must render it still more 
dangerous for ships to anchor in any part near the east- 
ern mouth of the strait. 

The 24th of September having now arrived, Parry 
considered it no longer safe to venture the ships to re- 
main in this sea, their situation being one of almost con- 
stant and unavoidable danger. He determined, there- 
fore, to run over to Igloolik in search of winter quarters, 
which was accomplished, though not without imminent 
danger to both ships. The situation was not very favor- 
able for passing the winter in, but, by cutting a canal in 
the ice as usual, they were placed in security. The 
whole length of this canal was 4343 feet ; the thickness 
of the ice in the level and regular parts from 12 to 14 
inches, but in many places where a separation had oc- 
curred it amounted to several feet. " I can not," says 
Parry, " sufficiently do justice to the cheerful alacrity 
with which the men continued this laborious work dur- 
ing thirteen days, the thermometer being frequently at 
zero, and once as low as — 9° in that interval. 

Being now established in winter quarters for the sec- 
ond time in the present voyage, Parry's thoughts were 
naturally employed in considering what farther steps 
should be pursued, and what expedient he should have 
recourse to on their liberation from the ice some ten or 
eleven months hence. His resolute and enterprising 
character was not likely to be satisfied with the little 
progress that had been made in the discoveiy of a north- 
west passage, which was the main object of the voyage. 
The measure he contemplated appears to have been a 
bold one, and one which, situated as the ships were, 
could not possibly have been attended with any advan- 
tage to that object, and would, to a certainty, have been 
productive of fatal results to himself and the whole crew ; 
but let him speak for himself : 

" Flattering as our prospects appeared at the commence- 
ment of the past summer, our efforts had certainly not been 
10 N 



146 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

attended with a proportionate degree of success, and little sat- 
isfaction remained to us at the close of the season but the con- 
sciousness of having left no means within oar reach untried 
that could hi any way promote our object. It required, in- 
deed, but a single glance at the chart to perceive that what- 
ever the last summer's navigation had added to our geograph- 
ical knowledge of the eastern coast of America and its adja- 
cent lands, very little had in reality been effected in further- 
ance of the Northwest Passage, Even the actual discovery 
of the desired opening into the Polar Sea had been of no prac- 
tical benefit in the prosecution of our enterprise ; for we had 
only discovered this channel to find it impassable, and to see 
the barriers of nature impenetrably closed against us, to the 
utmost limit of the navigable season. 

" Viewing the matter hi this light, it appeared to resolve 
itself into the single question, by what means the resources 
of the expedition could possibly be extended beyond the pe- 
riod to which they were at present calculated to last, namely, 
the close of the year 1824. Only one expedient suggested 
itself by which that object could be attained, and this I deter- 
mined to adopt, should no unforeseen occurrence arise to pre- 
vent it. It was, to send the Hecla to England in the follow- 
ing season, taking from her a twelvemonth's provisions and 
fuel to complete the Fury's resources to the end of the year 
1825, and then continuing our efforts in that ship singly as 
long as a reasonable hope remained of our ultimate success. 
One or two collateral advantages occurred to me as likely to 
be derived from this plan, the first of which was the oppor- 
tunity thus afforded of transmitting to the Lords Commission- 
ers of the Admiralty a full accouut of our past proceedings 
and present situation and intentions, whereby, perhaps, much 
needless anxiety on our account might be prevented. It 
wo aid also r as I hoped,, allow their lordships the option of 
making any alteration which they might now deem requisite- 
in the arrangements pointed out in my instructions respecting, 
the ship to be sent to meet us near Behring's Strait, for which 
the orders might not, perhaps, leave England before the arri- 
val of the Hecla there hi the autumn of 1823. These were,, 
however, minor and. less important considerations ; my prin- 
cipal object and determination being to persevere, to the ut- 
most extent of our resources, in the prosecution of the enter- 
prise with which I had the honor to be charged. Having 
suggested this expedient to Captain Lyon, I had much satis- 
faction in finding his opinion entirely coincide with my own, 
and without at present mentioning it to the other individuals 
belonging to the expedition, we continued to consult together 
from time to time during the winter concerning the arrange-- 



CAPTAIN PARRY S SECOND VOYAGE. 147 

ments it would be requisite to make for commencing the ex- 
ecution of our plan in the course of the following spring." — 
P. 372-374. 

One of the first operations was to build a wall of snow 
twelve feet high round the Fury, and at the distance of 
twenty yards from her, " forming a large square, like 
that of a farm-yard," by which not only was the snow- 
drift kept out, but a good sheltered walk was afforded 
against every wind. The Fury and the Hecla were 
separated on account of the large hommocs of ice. 

" The distance between the two ships, though not such as 
to prevent constant intercourse, was nevertheless too great to 
allow of our continuing the theatrical entertainments, by 
which our former winters had been considerably enlivened. 
This was, however, the less requisite, and, indeed, entirely 
unnecessary, on account of our neighborhood to the Esqui- 
maux, whose daily visits to the ships throughout the winter 
afforded both to officers and men a fund of constant variety 
and never-failing amusement, which no resources of our own 
could possibly have furnished. Our people were, however, 
too well aware of the advantage they derived from the 
schools not to be desirous of their re-establishment, which ac- 
cordingly took place soon after our arrival at Igloolik, and 
they were glad to continue this as then evening occupation 
during the six succeeding months." — P. 377-378. 

In the mention of the Esquimaux, some of whom, it 
appears, had come from Amitioke, and among whom 
were many of the old acquaintances of Winter Island, it 
might have been expected that Iligliuk would have been 
among the first and foremost ; but, strange as it may 
appear, the name even of this extraordinary person, 
from whom so much valuable and correct information 
had been received, is only once mentioned, and then 
rather reproachfully, as a name in the general account 
of these people ; an account that extends to at least a 
hundred pages, descriptive of their character, manners, 
and customs, and detailing the various transactions that 
took place during the confinement of the ships. Among 
the visitors from Amitioke was that distinguished youth 
Toolooak, the son of Iligliuk, who is repeatedly men- 
tioned and commended. " I counted to-day," says Parry, 
"on a girdle worn round the waist by Toolooak's mother, 
twenty-nine deer's ears, procured by this young man's 



148 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

own exertions : a girdle which she constantly wears, as 
a proud trophy of her son's exploits ; and," he adds, 
" there are few mothers, indeed, who might not be 
proud of such a son as Toolooak, who, on longer ac- 
quaintance, quite maintained his former character, of 
possessing many excellent qualities both of head and 
heart." Poor Iligliuk ! a name appearing to be no lon- 
ger remembered but as Toolooak's mother ; but Parry- 
no doubt meant to say that Toolooak wore the girdle, 
"which was worn {usually) round the waist of his 
mother." But enough for the present of the Esqui- 
maux. 

The appearance of scurvy in some slight but unequiv- 
ocal symptoms could scarcely be a subject of wonder, 
considering the length of time the ships' crews had no 
other dependence than upon their own resources, unas- 
sisted as they had been by any supply of fresh anti- 
scorbutic plants or other vegetables, a case unparal- 
leled in the annals of navigation. The month of August 
had commenced, when, as Parry observes, " incredible 
as it may appear, the ships were as securely confined 
in the ice as in the middle of winter,, except that a pool 
of water about twice their own length in diameter was 
now open around them. 1 determined, therefore," he 
adds, " notwithstanding the apparent hopelessness of 
sawing our way through four or five miles of ice, to be- 
gin that laborious process." By the 6th of August 
about four hundred yards of ice were sawn through and 
floated out, leaving now a broad canal eleven hundred 
yards in length. Through this, and by the disruption 
of the floe, the Fury was liberated and floated into open 
water on the 8th of August, and on the 12th was fol- 
lowed by the Hecla. Parry, now that the ships were 
once more afloat, began to reflect on what he had pro- 
posed to do on the return of summer. 

" When the lateness of the season to which the ships had 
now been detained in the ice is considered, with reference to 
the probability of the Fury's effecting any thing of importance 
during the short remainder of the present summer, it will not 
be wondered at that, coupling this consideration with that of 
the health of my officers and men, I began to entertain doubts 
whether it would still be prudent to adopt the intended meas- 



CAPTAIN PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE. 149 

ure of remaining out in the Fury as a single ship ; whether, 
in short, under existing circumstances, the probable evil did 
not far outweigh the possible good. In order to assist my 
own judgment on this occasion upon one of the most material 
points, I requested the medical officers of the Fury to furnish 
me with their opinions as to the probable effect that a third 
winter passed in these regions would produce on the health 
of the officers, seamen, and marines of that ship, taking into 
consideration every circumstance connected with our situa- 
tion."— P. 470. 

The reply of Mr. Edwards, the surgeon, was, as might 
be expected, decisive. Under any circumstances, he 
stated that an increase of general debility, with a cor- 
responding degree of sickness, might be expected ; but, 
considering the matter as in a single ship, it assumes a 
much more important shape. In that view, the increase 
of labor and exposure, from the separation of the vessels, 
the privation of many salutary occupations, mental and 
corporeal, attending their union, and, at this late period 
of the season, the hopelessness of the success of the 
ensuing navigation, would be such as to excite feelings 
sufficiently lively to counteract those depressing causes. 
The substance of the answer being sent to Commander 
Lyon, after noticing the great change he had observed 
in the constitution of the officers and men of the Hecla 
from the continuance of one particular diet, almost total 
deprivation of fresh animal and vegetable food for above 
two years, and the necessary and close confinement for 
several months of each severe winter, " I conceive," he 
says, " that a continued exposure to the same depriva- 
tions and confinements, the solitude of a single ship, and 
the painful monotony of a third winter to men whose 
health is precarious, would in all probability be attended 
with very serious consequences." 

But he goes farther, and notices the inutility of the 
measure. From the circumstance of being detained in 
the ice until the present time, the 10th of August, "I 
am of opinion," he says, " that the season in which it is 
possible to navigate has now so far passed that nothing 
material can be effected either by one or both ships. 
"We know, from the experience of last year, that it is 
not before the end of August or the beginning of Sep- 
tember that the ice breaks up in the Strait of the Fury 
N 2 



150 ARCTIC VOYAGE*. 

and Hecla, and that it is not until that period that you 
will be enabled to re-examine its western entrance." 
And he wisely concludes by advising that the Fury and 
Hecla return to England together, which Parry as 
wisely accepts. " Under such circumstances," he says, 
" I no longer considered it prudent or justifiable, upon 
the slender chance of eventual success now before us, 
to risk the safety of the officers and men committed 
to my charge, and whom it was now my first wish to 
reconduct in good health to their country and their 
friends." 

Having come to this decision, and having extricated 
the ships from their confinement, on the 12th of August 
they stood out to the eastward, and finally took their 
departure from Igloolik. The current rapidly hurried 
them to the southward, their drift being twenty-one 
miles in twenty -four hours, though closely beset, and 
without a single pool of water in sight the whole time. 
At one place the ships were whirled round a headland 
at the rate of two or three knots an hour. After pass- 
ing the Barrow River, they were drifted out nine or 
ten miles from the land, the influence of this river having 
probably thus set them out. On the 30th they were 
close to Winter Island. 

" Thus had we," says Parry, " in a most singular manner, 
once more arrived at our old winter quarters, with scarcely a 
single successful exertion on our parts toward effecting that 
object. The distance from Ooglit to our present station was 
about one hundred and sixty miles along the coast. Of this 
we had never sailed above forty, the rest of the distance 
having been accomplished, while we were immovably beset, 
by mere drifting. The interval thus employed having been 
barely eight days, gives an average drift to the southward of 
above fifteen miles per day." — P. 478. 

Being set fast in the ice in proceeding to the south- 
ward, a strong westerly breeze on the 17th of Septem- 
ber allowed them to shape their course for the Trinity 
Islands in a perfectly open sea. From hence they ran 
down Hudson's Strait without meeting with any ob- 
struction, and on the 10th of October entered the harbor 
of Bressay Sound in Lerwick, where they enjoyed the 
" first trace of civilized man that they had seen for 



151 

seven-and-twenty months." The kindness which they 
received from these poor but hospitable people is thus 
feelingly described : 

" I feel it utterly impossible adequately to express the kind- 
ness and attention we received for the three or four days that 
we were detained iu Bressay Sound by a continuance of un- 
favorable winds. On the- first information of our arrival the 
bells of Lerwick were set ringing, the inhabitants flocked 
from every part of the country to express their joy at our un- 
expected return, and the town was at night illuminated, as if 
each individual had a brother or a son among us. On the 
12th, being Sunday, the officers and men of both ships at- 
tended divine service on shore, when the worthy minister, 
the Reverend Mr. Menzies, who was before well known to 
many among us, offered up, in the most solemn and impressive 
manner, a thanksgiving for our safe return, at the same time 
calling upon us, with great earnestness, never to forget what 
we owed to Him who had been ' about our path and about 
our bed, and who spieth out all our ways.' The peculiarity 
of the circumstances under which we had joined the congre- 
gation, the warmth of feeling exhibited by every person as- 
sembled within the 6acred walls, together with the affection- 
ate energy of the preacher, combined to produce an effect of 
which words can convey but little idea, but which will not 
easily be effaced from the minds of those who were present 
on this affecting occasion." — P. 486. 

On the 18th Captain Parry arrived at the Admiralty, 
and the ships were paid off on the 16th of November. 

On looking back at the horrible navigation from the 
entrance of Hudson's Strait to Winter Island, through 
Middleton's Frozen Strait, along the coast of the land 
which separates Prince Regent's Inlet from Fox's Chan- 
nel, and the same villanous kind of navigation along the 
same coast from Winter Island to Igioolik, near the 
mouth of the Fmy and Hecla Strait, there does not 
appear to be the slightest encouragement ever to send 
another ship to that quarter, even had the navigation of 
that strait been always open, safe, and convenient, for in 
that case it could not afford any advantage. It opens 
into a strait, among islands of the Polar Sea, called 
Prince Regent's Inlet, of the lower part of wdiich noth- 
ing was at this time known beyond Iligliuk's information 
(correct in ail other parts), that it terminates at Akkoo- 
lee, nearly opposite to Repulse Bay. But, had it ex- 



152 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

tended to the coast of America, the islands in that cor- 
ner are so clustered and crowded together as to admit 
of no probability of a navigable passage there for large 
ships to the westward, and no man in his senses would 
take that line of route to get into Lancaster Sound when 
he could go there direct in half the time, and without 
any of the danger which Fox's Channel and the Fury 
and Hecla Strait would occasion. 

Toward the conclusion of his narrative, Captain Pariy 
repeats his opinion of the advantages of continuous land 
in the navigation of the Polar Seas, and that the princi- 
ple of coasting the northern shore of America must still 
be carefully kept in view; and he adds, "there is no 
known opening which seems to present itself so favora- 
bly for this purpose as Prince Regent's Inlet." This 
opinion, thus publicly given, is obviously an indication of 
the expedition which succeeded this, and which may 
possibly have made some change in Captain Parry's sen- 
timents on this head. Ample proof has since been given 
by the reports of Franklin, Richardson, Back, and sub- 
sequently by Simpson, that the coast of North America, 
which is the southern shore of the Polar Sea, is naviga- 
ble throughout but by canoes or boats only, and that 
large ships could not attempt it unless at a very consid- 
erable distance from the shore on the sea, and outside 
the numerous chains of small islands that, on the eastern 
portion in particular, run parallel to the coast. 



-■s* 



CAPTAIN G. F. LYON. 153 



CHAPTER VH. 
CAPTAIN GEORGE F. LYON. 

1824. 

Narrative of a Voyage to Wager River, or Repulse Bay f in 
his Majesty's skip Griper, and thence to the Polar Coast 
of North America over land. 
The Griper was commanded, officered, and manned as 

under : 

George F. Lyon, Captain. 

S££&» ^-tenant, 
Mr. Kendal, Assistant Surveyor. 
Thomas Evans, Purser. 
John Tom, Midshipman. 
William Leyson, Assistant Surgeon 
~7 Officers. 
1 Gunner. 
7 Petty Officers. 
1 Corporal of Marines. 
25 Able Seamen. 
41 Total on hoard. 
This incomplete voyage has only an indirect relation 
to the discovery of a northwest passage, its sole object 
having been to complete the land survey of the eastern 
portion of the north coast of North America, from the 
western shore of Melville Peninsula as far as to Cape 
Turn-again, where Captain Franklin's late journey ter- 
•minated. Being, therefore, connected with Arctic dis- 
covery, and under the orders of an officer who com- 
manded the second ship in Parry's second voyage, and 
directed to proceed to the same portion of the Arctic 
Seas where he had already been with Parry, it is deem- 
ed right and proper to give to this expedition a place in 
the present narrative ; and the more so, as it furnishes 
a beautiful and striking example of that obedience to or- 
ders, that calm and uncomplaining submission, accom- 
panied with pious resignation to the Divine will in the 
hour of extreme danger, and when the awful moment 
of death is approaching, which, all so conspicuous in the 



154 Arctic Voyages. 

character of British seamen, are exemplified in this voy- 
age. 

In order to effect the object in view, it was decided, 
as being the readiest and most simple mode of proceed- 
ing, to send a small vessel to Wager River or Repulse 
Bay, under the orders of an intelligent officer, who, with 
a small party, should be instructed to cross the Melville 
Peninsula from one or other of the above-mentioned 
places, and traverse, by land, the western shore of that 
peninsula, and the northern shore of North America, to 
Point Turn-again. Captain Lyon, having been promot- 
ed for his services, was selected by Lord Bathurst for 
this duty ; and the Lords Commissioners of the Admi- 
ralty having appointed the Griper, a gun-brig of 180 tons, 
to receive him, gave him directions to leave the ship, 
during his land journey, in charge of the senior lieuten- 
ant. 

Lieutenant Francis Harding, after paying off the 
Griper, served three years as lieutenant of the Espoir, 
then in the Hecla, and was made commander in 1830 ; 
he served in that rank in several ships till the year 1839, 
and was promoted to the rank of captain in the general 
promotion of 1841. 

Peter Manic o was made lieutenant in 1814, served 
in the present voyage, and is still on the list of lieuten- 
ants. 

John Tom was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 
1826, where he still remains. 

The Griper was considered a veiy useful vessel of 
her class ; her strength was proved between the ice and 
the shore of Melville Island, and Captain Clavering had 
but arrived in England in her, at the end of the preced- 
ing year, from a voyage to Spitzbergen and Greenland. 
She was now, for her present voyage, examined and 
well strengthened ; but, on being stored and amply pro- 
visioned, was found to be too deeply laden to cross the 
Atlantic alone, and therefore his majesty's surveying 
vessel the Snap, commanded by Lieutenant Bullock, 
was ordered to receive a portion of them, and to accom- 
pany the Griper until she reached the ice, or arrived off 
Cape Chidley, 

They sailed from Yarmouth Roads on the 19th of 



CAPTAIN G. F. LYON. 155 

June, and arrived at Stromness on the 30th. " On the 
3d of July," Captain Lyon says, "we hoisted in two 
very powerful little ponies, procured at Kirkwall, the 
only two on the island, and which had been sent from 
Shetland to an Orkney laird ; one was forty inches, the 
other thirty-eight in height." They also received a fat 
cow and eight sheep for the crew. The poor cow, it 
seems, refused to eat, and was therefore killed for pres- 
ent use ; but the ponies proved better sailors, walked 
about the ship as familiarly as large dogs, and improved 
in their appearance daily. On examining the bags of 
pemmican, to their great mortification it was found that 
the fat had melted, and that the water-proof caoutchouc 
was oozing in a clammy state through the canvas. 

The worst of all was, that the sluggish Griper requir- 
ed to be towed by the Snap, till a strong breeze and a 
heavy swell for two days' continuance obliged the for- 
mer to cast oft", when she shipped so many tremendous 
seas that it became necessary to bring her to under storm 
stay-sails, which was the more mortifying on observing 
her companion to be perfectly dry. In short, through- 
out the whole passage across the Atlantic the Griper 
was obliged to be towed by the Snap every second or 
third day, without which she could not have made any 
progress. On the 3d of August, however, the two ships 
made the ice, consisting of bergs among the floes ; when, 
according to the instructions, they began to remove the 
stores and provisions out of the Snap, by which the decks 
of the Griper were completely crowded. Lyon says 
the gangways, forecastle, and abaft the mizzen-mast were 
filled with casks, hawsers, whale-lines, and stream-ca- 
bles ; the lower deck crowded with casks and other 
stores : not a place left vacant except the mess-tables of 
the men. Thus lumbered and brought down deep, her 
sailing qualities, bad enough before, were now expected 
to be much worse. It was found, also, by observation, 
that for two days they had been exposed to the united 
force of the strong currents from Davis's and Hudson's 
Straits, toward the latter of which they were approach- 
ing. On the 4th of August the Snap parted company, to 
proceed in the farther execution of her services. 

On the 6th the Griper had approached Resolution 



156 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

Island, the sea covered with loose heavy ice, but the day 
described as lovely, and the sky brilliant ; yet the brill- 
iancy and loveliness which surrounded Captain Lyon 
were not sufficient to prevent him from " yielding to a 
sensation of loneliness he had never experienced on the 
former voyage." " I felt most forcibly," he says, " the 
want of an accompanying ship, if not to help us, at least 
to break the death-like stillness of the scene." No won- 
der at this feeling, when all the circumstances of his po- 
sition are considered. 

It must indeed be owned that there was a more than 
usual want of prudence in sending such a small and slug- 
gish ship alone, through a navigation which had been 
proved and condemned as one of the most difficult and 
dangerous of the many difficult ones that occur in this 
part of the Arctic Seas. The old voyagers, it is time, 
proceeded in ships much inferior in size and strength to 
the Griper ; yet they rarely navigated those seas alone, 
and not unfrequently with three or four in company. 
Captain Lyon says, however, that he was amply com- 
pensated for want of a more extensive society, " by hav- 
ing the happiness of knowing that I had officers and men 
with whom I was confident of continuing on the most 
friendly terms." Two days after this the ship struck 
on a rock, and the heavy and continued shocks heeled 
her so much that the commander " imagined she was 
turning over." She might have gone down, in which 
case Lyon's " ample compensation" would have been ol 
little use in this uninhabited and desolate part of the 
globe. 

The constant shipping of seas and the continued wet 
weather had rendered every thing within the ship " very 
damp." The two ponies, therefore, with the ducks, 
geese,- and fowls, were handed out upon the ice, where, 
the captain says, " they presented a most novel appear- 
ance." To enliven the scene, about sixty Esquimaux, 
men and women, in kayaks and oomiaks, visited the 
strangers, made a loud, screaming noise, and brought 
with them some trifling articles of barter, chiefly weap- 
ons and skin clothes ; and our captain says, " I blush 
while I relate it, two of the fair sex actually disposed of 
their nether garments — a piece of indecorum I had nev- 



CAPTAIN G. F. LYON. 157 

er before witnessed." There was no need, however, of 
blushing, for in the same neighborhood Parry was offer- 
ed the same thing, but his blushes were spared on find- 
ing that the lady wore a double set. Lyon must have 
been present when Parry's blushes were spared. 

Notwithstanding the Griper's dull sailing, they con- 
trived to get her past Charles's Island, Digges's Island, 
and Cape Wolstenholm by the 20th of August, and two 
days after saw the high land of Southampton Island. 
Off Cape Pembroke their compasses were found to be 
quite useless with the ship's head to the southward, and 
so powerless that the north point stood wherever it was 
placed by the finger, but with the ship's head to the north- 
ward they all traversed again. This has been always a 
constant complaint within the Arctic Circle, and particu- 
larly near to and between the two northern magnetic 
poles. It is a subject of such great importance, and has 
excited so much interest, and for the last five years has 
been so extensively inquired into experimentally, that 
there is every reason to hope the principles of terrestri- 
al magnetism will receive a satisfactory elucidation, as- 
sisted by the observations conducted under the direction 
of Captain Sir James Ross in the southern antarctic 
seas, and also by those which Sir John Franklin has 
been instructed to make on his present voyage. 

Captain Lyon suggests whether this wildness in the 
compasses may not be caused by the absence of the sun 
or the presence of the aurora. Mr. Kendall, he says, 
observed that, during the prevalence of a brilliant aurora, 
the larboard binnacle compass would remain stationary 
at no particular point, while the starboard one, by a bear- 
ing of the pole star, had lessened its usual error two 
points. 

As Captain Lyon was taking his walks on shore, he 
fell in with a little incident which gave expression to a 
sentiment of that kindly feeling he was known to pos- 
sess, and which his own words will best convey. He 
was crossing an Esquimaux burial-place : 

" Near the large grave was a third pile of stones, covering 
the body of a child, which was coiled up in the same manner 
[as the other]. A snow-bunting had found its way through 
the loose stones which composed this little tomb, and its now 

o 



158 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

forsaken, neatly-built nest was found placed on the neck of 
the child. As the snow-bunting has all the domestic virtues 
of our English redbreast, it has always been considered by us 
as the robin of these dreary wilds, and its lively chirp and 
fearless confidence have rendered it respected by the most 
hungry sportsman. I could not, on this occasion, view its 
little nest, placed on the breast of infancy, without wishing 
that I possessed the power of poetically expressing the feel- 
ings it excited."* — P. 68-69. 

The farther they proceeded to the northward tip the 
Welcome, the more sluggish and irregular the compass- 
es got; and Lyon quotes a passage out of Ellis, in his 
account of Dobbs's expedition in the year 1746, to show 
that they were the same at that time. A thick fog and 
a heavy sea, and no land to be seen nor any trust to be 
placed in the compasses, and withal the water shallow- 
ing ; the ship not able to face the sea or keep steerage 
way on her, Captain Lyon says : " I most reluctantly 
brought her up with three bowers and a stream anchor 
in succession, but not before we had shoaled to five and 
a half fathoms, the ship pitching bows under, and a tre- 
mendous sea running." In this perilous condition, ig- 
norant in what direction and how distant the land might 
be, and under the dread, moreover, that the falling tide 
(from twelve to fifteen feet) would most probably occa- 
sion the total destruction of the ship — in order to pro- 
vide for such an unfortunate event, the longboat was 
prepared to be hoisted out with the four small ones, and 
ordered to be stored with arms, ammunition, and pro- 
visions ; the officers drew lots for their respective boats, 

* On rending this passage to an accomplished lady, she said she felt a 
desire to try what she could do with so interesting a subject in the way 
wished for by Captain Lyon, and produced the following lines : 

TO THE SNOW-BTTNTING. 

" Sweet bird ! the breast of innocence 

Hath fadeless charms for thee ; 
Although the spirit long has fled, 

And lifeless clay it be ; 
Thou dreadest not to dwell with death, 

Secure from harm or ill, 
For on an infant's heart thy nest 

Is wrought with fearless skill. 
And, like our own familiar bird 

That seeks the human friend, 
Thou cheer'st the wandering seaman's thoughts 

With home, his aim and end." — Geobgiana. 



CAPTAIN G. F. LYON. 159 

and the ship's company were stationed to them. " Ev- 
ery officer and man," says the captain, " drew his lot 
with the greatest composure, although two of the boats 
would have been swamped the instant they were low- 
ered." In the mean time, the heavy seas continued to 
sweep over the crowded decks. On the weather clear- 
ing a little, a low beach was discovered all round astern 
of the ship, on which the surf was running to an awful 
height, and " it appeared but too evident that no human 
power could save us if driven upon it." At this moment 
the ship, being lifted by a tremendous sea, struck with 
great violence the whole length of her keel. This was 
naturally conceived to be the forerunner of her total 
wreck. The decks were continually and deeply flood- 
ed : for twenty -four hours, it is stated, most of the men 
had not left these decks, and the captain had not been in 
bed for three nights. 

In such a hopeless case, Captain Lyon did that which 
a right-minded British naval officer never fails to do on 
the apparent approach of the last extremity. But it is 
due to him and his brave seamen to describe their situa- 
tion and conduct on this trying occasion in his own 
words : 

" Although few or none of us had any idea that we should 
survive the gale, we did not think that our comforts should 
be entirely neglected, and an order was therefore given to 
the men to put on their best and wannest clothing, to enable 
them to support life as long as possible. Every man, there- 
fore, brought his bag on deck, and dressed himself; and in 
the fine athletic forms which stood exposed before me, I did 
not see one muscle quiver, nor the slightest sign of alarm. 
The officers each secured some useful instrument about them 
for the purposes of observation, although it was acknowledged 
by all that not the slightest hope remained. And now that 
every thing in our power had been done, I called all hands 
aft, and to a merciful God offered prayers for our preserva- 
tion. I thanked every one for their excellent conduct, and 
cautioned them, as we should, in all probability, soon appear 
before our Maker, to enter his presence as men resigned to 
their fate. We then all sat down in groups, and, sheltered 
from the wash of the sea by whatever we could find, many 
of us endeavored to obtain a little sleep. Never, perhaps, 
was witnessed a finer scene than on the deck of my little ship, 
when all hope of life had left us. Noble as the character of 



160 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

the British sailor is always allowed to be hi cases of danger, 
yet I did not believe it to be possible that, among forty-one 
persons, not one repining word should have been uttered. 
The officers sat about wherever they could find shelter from 
the sea, and the men lay down conversing with each other 
with the most perfect calmness. Each was at peace with his 
neighbor and all the world ; and I am firmly persuaded that 
the resignation which was then shown to the will of the Al- 
mighty was the means of obtaining His mercy. God was 
merciful to us; and the tide, almost miraculously, fell no 
lower."— P. 79, 80. 

They were saved ; and the place of their extreme 
danger was, as speedily as possible, ascertained by ob- 
servation to be in lat. 63° 35' 48", long. 86° 32' 0", and 
it was very properly named the Bay of God's Mercy. 
On the fog clearing away it was found to be immediately 
in the center of the Welcome. They now discovered 
that their fresh water, on the 4th of September, was so 
greatly reduced, that, in then- present condition and the 
situation of the ship, none could be afforded for the poor 
little ponies which had survived the storm ; they were 
therefore obliged to be sacrificed ; their hay, besides, had 
been all thrown overboard in the storm. 

On the 12th of September, when they had arrived 
opposite the mouth of the Wager River, and between 
it and Southampton Island, a gale of wind arose, and 
with it also the sea ; the dull Griper now made no prog- 
ress, but "remained actually pitching forecastle under, 
with scarcely steerage way." One alternative alone re- 
mained, and that was to bring the ship up. "We found 
that the anchors held, although the ship was dipping 
bowsprit and forecastle under, and taking green seas over 
all. Thick-falling sleet covered the decks to some inches 
in depth, and, withal, the spray froze as it fell." To 
add to their anxiety, two or three streams of ice, with 
deep, solid pieces among them, were seen in the even- 
ing to be driving down upon the ship. The night was 
piercingly cold, the sea washed the decks fore and aft, 
constant snow fell, the lower deck was afloat, the men'? 
hammocs thoroughly soaked, and the poor fellows could 
get no rest. 

" Never shall I forget- the dreariness of this most anxious 
night. Our ship pitched at such a rate that it was not possi- 



CAggCAIN G. F. LYON. 161 

\Ae to stand even below, while on deck we were unable to 
move without holding by ropes, which were stretched from 
side to side. The drift-snow flew in sucfc sharp, heavy flakes 
that we could not look to windward, and it froze on deck to 
above a foot in depth. The sea made incessant breaches 
quite fore and aft the ship, and the temporary warmth it gave 
while it washed over us was most painfully checked by its 
almost immediately freezing on our clothes. To these dis- 
comforts were added the horrible uncertainty as to whether 
the cables would hold until daylight, and the conviction also 
that if they failed us we should instantly be dashed to pieces, 
the wind blowing directly to the quarter in which we knew 
the shore must he. Again, should they continue to hold us, 
we feared, by the ship's complaining so much forward, that 
the bits would be torn up, or that she would settle down at 
her anchors, overpowered by some of the tremendous seas 
which burst over."— P. 100, 101. 

The hurricane continuing, it can better be imagined 
than told what kind of night they were doomed to pass. 
"** I never beheld," says Captain Lyon, " a darker night. 1 ' 
At dawn on the 13th the best bower anchor parted, and 
the gale blew with such terrific violence as to leave little 
reason to expect that the other anchors would hold long. 
In short, the prospect was now most perilous and pit- 
iable, 

u At 6 A.M. all farther doubts on this particular point were 
at an end, for, having received two overwhelming seas, both 
the other cables went at the same moment, and we were left 
helpless, without anchors or any means of saving ourselves, 
should the shore, as we had every reason to expect, be close 
a.stern. And here again I had the happiness of witnessing 
the same general tranquillity as was shown on the 1st of Sep- 
tember. There was no outcry that the cables were gone ; 
but my friend Mr. Manieo, with Mr. Carr, the gunner, came 
aft as soon as they recovered their legs, and in the lowest 
whisper informed me that the cables had all parted. The 
ship, in trending to the wind, lay quite down on her broad- 
side ; and as it then became evident that nothing held her, 
and that she was quite helpless, each man instinctively took 
his station, while the seamen at the leads, having secured 
themselves as well as was in their power, repeated their 
soundings, on which our preservation depended, with as 
much composure as if we had been entering a friendly port. 
Here again that Almighty power, which had before so mer- 
cifully preserved us, granted us his protection." — P. 102, 103. 
11 O 2 



162 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

They were still, however, in a veiy melancholy con- 
dition, expecting every moment to strike, and not having 
the least idea whtlre they had anchored or where they 
now were ; every rope was incrusted with a thick coat- 
ing of ice. the decks so deeply covered with frozen snow 
and freezing sea water as to make it scarcely possible to 
stand ; and all hands being wet and half frozen, without 
having had any refreshment for so many hours, "our 
situation," says the captain, '* was rendered miserable in 
the extreme." 

" In the afternoon, having well weighed in my mind all 
the circumstances of our distressed situation, I turned the 
hands up, and informed them that, having now lost all our 
bower anchors and chains, and being, in consequence, unable 
to bring up in any part of the Welcome ; being exposed to 
the sets of a tremendous tideway and constant heavy gales,- 
one of which was now rapidly sweeping us back to the south- 
ward, and being yet above eighty miles from Repulse Bay, 
with the shores leading to which we were unacquainted ; our 
compass useless, and it being impossible to continue under 
sail with any degree of safety in these dark twelve-hour nights, 
with the too often experienced certainty that the ship could 
not beat off a lee-shore even in moderate weather, I had 
determined, in making southing, to clear the narrows of the 
Welcome, after which I should decide on some plan for our 
future operations." — P. 105. 

Their situation, indeed, was a hopeless one : without 
anchors, and with a crippled ship — compasses which, in- 
stead of guiding, only misled them — what plan could be 
devised to pursue? To approach the shore was the 
next step to the destruction of the ship, and in that event T 
to land in a snow- covered, frozen, and desolate country, 
producing nothing of food for man, and destitute of hu- 
man beings, would be equally and inevitably destruction 
to every living creature that might have escaped from 
the ship. Two alternatives, therefore, only were left : 
either to endeavor to let the ship float with the souther- 
ly current, with what sail she could carry, to Hudson's 
Bay, or to continue a direct course for England. In 
consulting his officers what they considered best to be 
done, they individually answered that, deprived as the 
ship was of anchors and much of her stores, with the 
little reliance to be placed on the compasses, they thought 



CAPTAIN G. F. LYON. ] 63 

the best to be done would be to return 'to Englaud with- 
out farther delay : a course was shaped accordingly. 

The voyage along this eastern coast "of North Ameri- 
ca has been tried many times, and always found more 
or less disastrous. It is a route utterly void of interest 
in the best of ships, in the best of weather, and in the 
best part of the season. Parry, with his two well-equip- 
ped ships, was teased and hampered with the floating 
ice, the fogs, and the currents, which the state of his 
compasses also made still more embarrassing. But of 
this harassing navigation, in the present instance, nothing 
more need be said, as nothing farther occurred on the 
return passage that requires any notice, unless it be the 
intercourse they had in the lower part of the Welcome 
with a party of Esquimaux, whose character, so differ- 
ent from that generally of this mild and quiet race, is no 
doubt truly explained. 

" I could not but compare the boisterous, noisy, fat fellows 
who were alongside, in excellent canoes, with well-furnished 
iron-headed weapons and handsome clothing, with the poor 
people we had seen at Southampton Island ; the latter with 
their spear-heads, arrows, and even knives of chipped flint, 
without canoes, wood, or iron, and with their tents and 
clothes full of holes, yet of mild manners, quiet in speech, 
and as grateful for kindness as they were anxious to return 
it, while those now alongside had, perhaps, scarcely a virtue 
left, owing to the roguery they had learned from their annual 
visits to the Hudson's Bay ships. An air of saucy independ- 
ence, a most clamorous deimmd for presents, and several at- 
tempts at theft, some of which were successful, w T ere their 
leading characteristics. Yet I saw not why I should constitute 
myself the censor of these poor savages ; and our barter was 
accordingly conducted in such a manner as to enrich them 
very considerably."— P. 128, 129. 

Notwithstanding the indifferent character here given 
to this tribe, Captain Lyon allows them credit for con- 
siderable ingenuity. "Nothing new," he says, "was 
seen at this visit, if I except a most ingenious piece of 
carving, from the grinder of a walrus : this was a very 
spirited little figure of a dog lying down and gnawing a" 




164 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

bone ; and although not much above an inch in length, 
the animal's general expression was admirable."* He 
adds that they procured a few little ivory bears well ex- 
ecuted. 

The passage to England produced nothing remarka- 
ble ; the Griper arrived at Portsmouth on the 10th of 
November, her crew much exhausted by the severity of 
the weather and wash of the sea over the ship ; and 
three were sent to the hospital. Captain Lyon thus 
concludes his narrative : 

" Thus ends the journal of our unsuccessful expedition. 
Before I take leave of my readers, I hope I may be allowed 
to make a few observations respecting my shipmates, seamen 
as well as officers, whose conduct on all occasions was such 
as to entitle them to the wannest praise I can bestow. I 
may with truth assert that there never was a happier little 
community than that assembled on board the Griper. Each 
succeeding day, and each escape from difficulties, seemed to 
bind us more strongly together ; and I am proud to say, that 
during the whole of our voyage neither punishment, com- 
plaint, nor even a disjrate of any kind occurred among us." — 
P. 144. 

The narrative of this unsuccessful voyage displays a 
fine example of manly resolution under the most dis- 
tressing difficulties, and of pious resignation to the Di- 
vine will, on the part of both officers and men, at a time 
when a fatal crisis appeared to be inevitable ■. It is one 
of the many cases in which the devoutly religious char- 
acter of our British seamen is eminently conspicuous, 
and which never fails to guard them against desponden- 
cy, though surrounded with dangers and difficulties such 
as, to men unaccustomed to them, would be apt to cre- 
ate despair. Whether, in the present instance, the crit- 
ical eye of a thorough-bred seaman might or might not 
discover something approaching to indiscretion in con- 
ducting the navigation of the ship during a dense fog, 
with compasses inactive, or acting only to deceive, un- 
knowing in what direction the land lay ; whether it was 
judicious to let go all the anchors at once — these are 
points that are to be decided only by nautical men and 

* The spirited original of this little figure was presented by Captain 
Lyon to the writer of this narrative, and is truly an ingenious piece of 
carving, though the wood engraving is far from doing it justice. 



CAPTAIN G. F. LYON. 165 

by a direct knowledge of all the circumstances existing 
at the time. That which is here to be observed upon, 
especially by a landsman, is the cool, the unflinching, 
the obedient demeanor of the men, and the steady, un- 
disturbed conduct of the officers : these are the subjects 
under consideration, and which are deserving of the 
highest degree of admiration and praise. The drawing 
of lots for the choice of boats, " two of which inust in- 
evitably have swamped the moment they were let down 
into the sea," and the cool and orderly manner in which 
every man brought up his bag and dressed himself in his 
best clothes, to take leave of this world, are traits pecu- 
liar in the character of British seamen, not to be found in 
any other class of men, and are worthy of all admiration. 
The ship is commended by the captain for her strength, 
but condemned for her sluggish and bad sailing qualities. 
She appears, indeed, to have been utterly unfit to con- 
tend with this worst of all possible navigations, though 
she had on more than one occasion to contend with the 
icy seas of the Arctic regions, both in the Polar and the 
Spitzbergen seas. But however fit a ship may be to 
encounter those seas, it certainly is not fitting, when 
employed on peculiar service, that any ship should be 
sent into them alone. The smallness of her size is no 
objection. Our old navigators were content with barks 
of ten, fifteen, up to fifty tons' burden ; but then, as be- 
fore stated, they were rarely, if ever, sent alone ; two 
or three, and frequently more, formed their expeditions 
of discoveiy, and the reason is obvious ; a single ship 
wrecked in those seas, whose coasts are uninhabited by 
human beings, must entail certain destruction on the life 
of every creature on board. There yet remains to be 
told, in the course of this narrative, another instance of 
the miraculous escape of a single ship, sent nearly into 
the same quarter, and for a similar purpose — an over- 
sight which, it is to be earnestly hoped, may never 
again be repeated. The people of England know the 
value of their seamen, and never grudge the expense 
which is fairly and honestly bestowed on her navy, the 
soul of which is her seamen, whose lives, were it only 
out of mere policy, ought not heedlessly, or from a mis 
taken frugality, to be endangered. 



166 



ARCTIC VOYAGES. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
PARRY'S THIRD VOYAGE, 

1824, 1825, 

for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, in H. M. ships Hecla and Fury. 

The two ships appointed for this service were the 
same as on the former voyage, but Parry now took 
command of the Hecla, and Hoppner of the Fury. 
They were commanded, officered, and manned as 
under : 



The Hecla. 

William Edward Parry, Captain 
and Commander. 

J. Land Wynn, ~i 

Joseph Sherer, >■ Lieutenants 

Henry Foster, ) 

Samuel Neill, M.D., Surgeon. 

W. H. Hooper, Purser. - - 

William Rowland, Assist. Surg. 

John Brunton, ] 

F. R. M. Crozier, 1 Midship- 
Charles Richards, f men. 

Hor. Nelson Head, J 
IT Officers. 

James Harrison, Clerk. 

J. Brothers, Gunner. 

William Smith Boatswain. 

George Fiddis, Carpenter. 

John Allison, Greenland Master. 

Geo. Champion, Greenland Mate. 
6 Warrant Officers. 
45 Seamen and Marines, 
62 Total on board. 

Any thing approaching the shape of an apology from 
Captain Parry himself will be deemed, as it ought to 
be, superfluous ; nor will it be thought necessary that, 
on the introduction of his narrative, he should be called 
upon for any explanation. He says : 

" I have considered it expedient to avoid all minute and 
technical description of our first season's operations, which, 
whatever vexation they may have cost ourselves, would 
probably have afforded little interest or amusement to the 



Fury. 

H. P. Hoppner, Commander. 

Hor. Th os. Austin, ? T . ♦„„„„..„ 

Jas. Clarke Ross, ' J Lieutenants. 

A. M'Laren, Surgeon. 

James Hulse, Purser. 

Thomas Bell, Assistant Surgeon. 

Berkley Westropp, } Midshi 

Chas. Crump Waller, > ": T~ F 

Edward Bird, ) e ' 

IT Officers. 

William Mogg, Clerk. 

James Moore, Gunner. 

William Wentworth, Boatswain. 

Charles Purfur, Carpenter. 

George Crawford, Greenland 
Master. 

Thomas Donaldson, Greenland 
Mate. 
6 Warrant Officers. 
45 Seamen and Marines. 
60" Total on board. 



PARRY S THIRD TOY AGE. 167 

public. In the circumstances attending our second season's 
navigation, and particularly those relating to the loss of the 
Fury, I have deemed it right to enter more into detail ; 
considering, on the one hand, that the loss of one of his 
majesty's ships is an event too serious to be lightly disposed 
of, and on the other, that I could thus alone do justice to 
the unwearied zeal and exertions of €aptain [Commander] 
Hoppner, our officers and men, on that occasion." — Intro- 
duction, p. xiii. 

Commander H. P. Hoppner served as lieutenant 
with Parry in the Alexander, and also as lieutenant in 
Parry's two preceding voyages, in all of which he was 
.considered an able, active, and zealous offieer. He had 
therefore worked his way to the rank of commander. 
"To Commander Hoppner, who," says Parry, "has 
been my constant companion from the very commence- 
ment of these enterprises, I feel every possible obliga- 
tion for his steady and persevering zeal in this service, 
and for his advice and assistance on eveiy occasion." 

Lieutenant Foster is highly spoken of by Captain 
Parry "for the various and multiplied branches of use- 
ful science to which his attention was at all times di- 
rected ;" and he adds, " our observations upon atmos- 
pheric refractions in high latitudes, and on the diurnal 
variation, and change of intensity of the magnetic needle, 
together with Lieutenant Foster's experiments with an 
invariable pendulum, have been communicated to and 
read before the Royal Society. He was also first lieu- 
tenant of the Hecla, which carried Parry to Spitzbergen 
on his attempt to reach the Pole. He accompanied 
Clavering and Sabine in the Griper to Spitzbergen and 
Greenland in 1823, and proved a most useful and intel- 
ligent assistant in the pendulum observations. His last 
service was that of co-operating with Mr. Lloyd in lev- 
eling aeross the Isthmus of Panama, when he was un- 
fortunately drowned in the River Chagres. By his 
■death the service was deprived of one of its most useful, 
able, and scientific navigators, and his loss was felt and 
deeply lamented by all who had the pleasure of his ac- 
quaintance. His character, in fact, was established as 
•among the first scientific officers of his time. 

Lieutenant James Clarke Ross. — Too much can 
aot he said in praise of this young officer, who worked 



168' ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

himself entirely by his own exertions, to the rank of 
lieutenant, and by his own self-taught acquirements, 
which extended to every department of science, he 
arrived at the highest step in the service (short of the 
flag) : but more of him hereafter. 

Lieutenant Horatio T. Austin, after distinguish- 
ing himself as an able officer, and having much good and 
active service, received his promotion as captain in 1838, 
and is now captain of the William and Mary yacht. 

Lieutenant Joseph Sherer, by his good service, 
raised himself to the rank of captain in 1841, and re- 
ceived the honor of K.H. 

" The public," Parry says, '• are very highly indebted 
to Dr. Samuel Neill, who, in addition to his profes- 
sional duties, entirely superintended the public collec- 
tion of specimens of natural history, and has furnished 
a variety of important geological notices ;" and he re- 
fers to the Zoological Appendix by Lieutenant Ross as 
"furnishing ample evidence of the attention paid by 
that gentleman (Neill) to this department of science, in 
addition to the immediate duties of his station." 

F. R. M. Crozier, midshipman, a most zealous young 
officer, who, by his talents, attention, and energy, has 
succeeded in working himself up to the top of the ser- 
vice. He was lieutenant of the Hecla in Parry's Polar 
voyage, and volunteered with Captain James Ross to go 
in the midst of winter into the Arctic Seas for the relief 
of the missing whale ships ; was made captain in 1841, 
and commanded the second ship in Captain James Ross's 
Antarctic Expedition, and is now second in command 
with Captain Sir John Franklin. 

John Brunton, the colleague of Crozier in this voy- 
age, arrived at no higher step than that of lieutenant, 
and is now serving as such in the Coast Guard. 

C. Richards and Horatio Nelson Head, midship- 
men, do not appear on the list of naval officers. 

Berkley Westropp, midshipman, was made a lieu- 
tenant in 1825, and still continues so, having left the 
navy for a civil employment in the Humane Society. 

Edward Bird appears on the list as a captain of 
1843, but he is not to be found among the Arctic voy- 
agers. 



parry's third voyage. 169 

Allan M>Laren was appointed surgeon of a ship of 
the line. 

William Harvey Hooper, purser, was the friend 
and associate of Captain Parry, and served with him in 
the Alexander in Ross's voyage, and in all the three of 
Parry, a most faithful and trustworthy officer. He was 
rewarded for his -services by a civil appointment in 
Greenwich Hospital, where he died, and his widow is 
now matron of the Greenwich Schools. 

The ships sailed from the Nore on the 19th of May, 
1824, the William Harris, transport, accompanying 
them. Their instructions were to make the best of 
their way to Davis's Strait and cross over to Lancaster 
Sound, and, proceeding through Barrow's Strait, en- 
deavor to make, through Prince Regent's Inlet, a pass • 
age into the sea which bounds the continent (of America) 
on its northern coast, and thence westward to the Pa- 
cific. The reason assigned for this route in the instruc- 
tions is, " The strong opinion which you have conveyed 
to us in favor of the attempt through Prince Regent's 
Inlet ; the confident hope which you express that the 
ice, which, at the period of the year when you visited 
the inlet, obstructed your passage, was likely to be re- 
moved by circumstances of season and weather within 
the navigable part of the year ;" and, it is added, " the 
confidence which we are justified in placing in your 
judgment and experience determine us to authorize 
and direct you to pursue the course which you consider 
the most promising, namely, through Prince Regent's 
Inlet." 

On the 18th of June, having reached the latitude of 
60£°, they saw the first iceberg, and from that time fell 
in with those bodies of ice almost daily. At a Danish 
settlement in Davis's Strait, called Lievely, they found 
Lieutenant Graat, who had been employed on a survey 
of the Greenland coast, and received much civility from 
him and other gentlemen belonging to the settlement. 
As soon as the stores and provisions were transhipped, 
the William Hams was released and ordered to return 
home. On leaving the harbor the Hecla struck on a 
sunken rock. On the 17th of July the ice began to 
close round the ships. " From this time," Parry says, 



170 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

" the obstructions from the quantity, magnitude, and 
closeness of the ice were such as to keep our people 
almost constantly employed in heaving, warping, or 
sawing through it, and yet with so little success, that, 
at the close of July, we had only penetrated seventy 
miles to the westward." Here, on the 1st of Au- 
gust, being closely beset, a gale of wind pressing the 
ice together, and overlaying mass upon mass, " the 
Hecla received several very awkward ' nips,' and was 
once fairly laid on her broadside by a strain which must 
inevitably have crushed a vessel of ordinary strength." 
The 9th of September had arrived " before we suc- 
ceeded in releasing ourselves from the more than ordi- 
nary barrier of ice in the middle of Baffin's Bay." 

They had continued their efforts to push to the 
northward, but it was not till the 29th of August that 
they reached the latitude of 73° 15', longitude 63° 40', 
in which situation, from the experience of 1819, they 
had reason to expect there would scarcely have been 
any ice at this season. The obstructions, however, con- 
tinued till the 8th of September, then in latitude 74° 
7' and longitude 69° 54', being about 110 miles to the 
N.N.W. of the situation in which they cleared the 
" pack" in the year 1819. Forty miles from hence 
they passed through the barrier of ice, after an unwea- 
ried exertion of eight tedious weeks by the officers and 
men to overcome it. 

The extraordinary weather which accompanied the 
low temperature of August is noticed as something re- 
markable. It is stated by Parry that, of the thirty-one 
days in that month, there was actually but one in which 
they had not a deposit of snow, sleet, rain, or fog during 
some part of the twenty -four consecutive hours ; and 
the northerly wind, which is the usual harbinger of a 
clear, dry, wholesome atmosphere, was just as thick as 
any other. And he adds, " for ten weeks in July, Au- 
gust, and September, though we were constantly watch- 
ing for an opportunity of airing the ships' companies' 
bedding on deck, we could only venture to do so once." 

In their struggle through the ice of Davis's Strait and 
Baffin's Bay, Parry noticed the set of the currents by 
which the whole body of the ice might be actuated. 






l'ARRY ? S THJKU VOVAGK. 171 

"It was obvious," he says, " that a daily set to the south- 
ward obtained when the wind was northerly, differing 
from two or three to eight or ten miles per day, accord- 
ing to the strength of the breeze ; but a northerly cur- 
rent was equally apparent when the wind blew from 
the southward." But he observes, as a remarkable cir- 
cumstance, that a westerly set was frequently apparent, 
even against a fresh breeze blowing from that quarter. 

On the 10th of September they entered that "mag- 
nificent inlet," Sir James Lancaster's Sound, and found 
it entirely, as usual, free from ice, except here and there 
a berg, " floating about in that solitary grandeur," of 
which these enormous masses are said to convey so sub- 
lime an idea. Proceeding " vexatiously slow" on the 
13th, they had the mortification to perceive the sea ahead 
covered with young ice, on entering which recourse was 
had to " sallying," breaking it with boats ahead, and va- 
rious other expedients, all alike ineffectual, without a 
fresh and free breeze furnishing a constant impetus ; 
" so that, after seven or eight hours of unsuccessful la- 
bor in this way, we were obliged to remain as we were, 
fairly and immovably beset." Thus for three days they 
continued struggling with the young ice to little or no 
purpose, now and then gaining half a mile of ground to 
windward in a little "hole" of open water, and after all 
rather losing ground than otherwise, while the young ice 
was every hour increasing in thickness. 

On the 17th they found themselves driven back to the 
eastward of Admiralty Inlet, the young ice still increas- 
ing in thickness. This was certainly a most severe trial 
of the patience and perseverance of Captain Parry, of a 
different kind, but equally annoying as that of " Fox's 
Channel" and the " Frozen Strait." It once occurred to 
him that as, in crossing Baffin's Bay, he had expended 
unexpectedly nearly the whole of the season, and as, 
under particular circumstances, his instructions author- 
ized him to return to England, it was high time to make 
up his mind, which was to him a point speedily decided. 
" I could not," he says, " have a moment's hesitation as 
to the propriety of pushing on as far as the present sea- 
son would permit, and then giving a fair trial, during the 
whole of next summer, to the route I was directed by 



172 ARCTIC VOYAGES 

my instructions to pursue ; and in this view Commander 
Hoppner entirely concurred. The fact is, that the sum- 
mer or season was already expended before they got into 
the inlet, and might probably, also, be expended in the 
following year before it should be found practicable to 
get out of their winter quarters, unless, indeed, as will 
shortly appear, these quarters were so favorably circum- 
stanced as to admit of an early departure from them. 

It would be useless to enter into a detail of the trials 
of temper and patience they were compelled to undergo 
after this decision, one of which, however, may be stat- 
ed. In a strong current setting to the eastward at the 
rate of two miles an hour, without a chance of stemming 
it, and beset as they were in young ice, during an unu- 
sually dark night of nine or ten hours' duration, with a 
heavy fall of snow, they found themselves utterly in a 
helpless state. " The consequence was, that when we 
made the land on the morning of the 23d, we had been 
drifted the incredible distance of eight or nine leagues 
during the night, finding ourselves off the Wollaston Isl- 
ands, at the entrance of Navy Board Inlet." Still they 
persevered, and the help of an easterly breeze which 
sprang up on the 26th, and gradually freshened, prom- 
ised in earnest to take them, as at last it did, into Prince 
Regent's Inlet on the 27th; and by beating up, they 
came to the entrance of Port Bowen, " where," says 
Parry, "for two or three days past, I had determined 
to make our wintering place, if, as there was but little 
reason to expect, we should be so fortunate as to push the 
ships thus far." The old process of cutting a canal in 
the ice for the reception of the ships was resorted to, 
and, as Parry states, " on the evening of the 1st of Octo- 
ber we had accomplished enough for our purpose, and 
the ships were warped into their winter stations, which 
we had the satisfaction to think were extremely favora- 
ble for an early release in the spring." 

Nothing remarkable was observed in the passage 
through Lancaster Sound. A boat was sent on shore in 
a bay near Cape Warrender. Dr. Neill reports, " The 
beach was covered with fragments of flesh-colored feld- 
spar, closely studded with red garnets, from the size of 
a pea to that of a walnut : the rock was of gneiss forma- 



173 

tion, the greater part of it composed of large plates thick- 
ly set with garnets. The surface of the ground was al- 
most entirely covered either with snow, or, in absence 
of it, with luxuriant reindeer moss. The party succeed- 
ed in killing three reindeer out of a small herd. High- 
er up the strait on the side of a hill, at three or four hun- 
dred feet above the level of the sea, Lieutenant Ross 
found several pieces of coal, which burned with a clear, 
bright flame ; he saw two hares, and killed one of them ; 
also a fox, a pair of ravens, some wingless ducks, and sev- 
eral snow-buntings. Parry says they observed a num- 
ber of whales in every part of Lancaster Sound. They 
observed, also, a great many narwhals and a few wal- 
ruses in Barrow's Strait, and thinks they might have seen 
many more of both but for the continual presence of the 
young ice. 

This being the fourth winter which Parry was doom- 
ed to pass in the frozen regions of the North, he knows 
not, he says, how he can do better than pursue a meth- 
od similar to that heretofore practiced, by confining him- 
self rather to the pointing out of any difference observed 
now and formerly, than by entering on a fresh descrip- 
tion of the actual phenomena. 

" To those who read, as well as to those who describe, the 
account of a winter passed in these regions can no longer be 
expected to afford the interest of novelty it once possessed, 
more especially in a station already delineated with tolerable 
geographical precision on our maps, and thus, as it were, 
Drought near to our firesides at home. Independently, in- 
deed, of this circumstance, it is hard to conceive any one 
thing more like another than two winters passed in the high- 
er latitudes of the Polar regions, except when variety hap- 
pens to be afforded hy intercourse with some other branch of 
' the whole family of man.' Winter after winter, nature 
here assumes an aspect so much alike, that cursory observa- 
tion can scarcely detect a single feature of variety. The win- 
ter of more temperate climates, and even in some of no slight 
severity, is occasionally diversified by a thaw, which at once 
gives variety and comparative cheerfulness- to the prospect. 
But here, when once the earth is covered, all is dreary mo- 
notonous whiteness — not merely for days or weeks, but for 
more than half a year together. Whichever way the eye is 
turned, it meets a picture calculated to impress upon the 
mind an idea of inanimate stillness, of that motionless torpor 
P2 



174 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

with which our feelings have nothing congenial — of any thing, 
hi short, but life. In the very silence there is a deadnesa 
with which a human spectator appears out of keeping. The 
presence of man seems an intrusion on the dreary solitude of 
this wintery desert, which even its native animals have for a 
while forsaken." — P. 40, 41. 

Among the winter arrangements, Captain Parry speaks 
in the highest terms of Sylvester's " warming appara- 
tus," to which he ascribes the comforts and convenien- 
ces, and with them the general health of the seamen, 
which exceeded those of any former experience : " a 
contrivance," he says, " of which I scarcely know how 
to express my admiration in adequate terms." 

''The alteration adopted on this voyage, of placing this 
stove in the very bottom of the hold, produced not only the 
effect naturally to be expected from it, of increasing the ra- 
pidity of the current of warm air, and thus carrying it to all 
the officers' cabins with less loss of heat in its passage, but 
was also accompanied by an advantage scarcely less import- 
ant, which had not been anticipated. This was the perfect 
and uniform warmth maintained during the winter in both 
the cable-tiers, which, when cleared of all the stores, gave 
us another habitable deck, on which more than one third of 
the men's hammocs were berthed, thus affording to the 
ships' companies, during seven or eight months of the year, 
the indescribable comfort of nearly twice the space for their 
beds, and twice the volume of air to breathe in. It need 
scarcely be added how conducive to wholesome ventilation, 
and to the prevention of moisture below, such an arrange- 
ment proved ; suffice it to say that we have never before been 
so free from moisture, and that I can not but chiefly attribute 
to this apparatus the unprecedented good state of health we 
enjoyed during this winter." — P. 44, 45. 

It is greatly to be lamented that this testimony of the 
good effects of a very simple contrivance had not been 
attended to before the inefficient, troublesome, and ex- 
pensive quackery apparatus had been permitted in cer- 
tain of her majesty's ships. 

The preparations and precautionary measures neces- 
sary for securing the ships occupied all hands for some 
time, and they were not finally settled till about the mid- 
dle of October. Parry omits no opportunity of record- 
ing whatever may appear to be conducive to the benefit 
of trade or navigation. Thus he states : 



?ARRY ? S THIRD VOYAGE. 175 

" Late as we had this year been in reaching Sir James Lan- 
caster's Sound, there would still have been time for a ship 
engaged in the whale fishery to have reaped a tolerable har- 
vest, as we met with a number of whales in every part of it, 
and even as far as the entrance of Port Bo wen. The num- 
ber registered altogether in our journals is between twenty 
and thirty, but I have no doubt that many more than these 
were seen, and that a ship expressly on the look-out for them 
would have found full occupation for her boats. Several 
which came near us were of large and ■ payable' dimen- 
sions."— P. 36, 37. 

The occupation and diversion of the seamen's minds, 
as well as the regularity of their bodily exercise, were 
not likely to be unattended to by so prudent and expe- 
rienced a commander as Captain Parry; but he was 
equally attentive to what had been done on former voy- 
ages ; and as the same officers and men were among 
the present ones, a little variety, therefore, was thought 
to be desirable. "Our former amusements," he says, 
*' being almost worn threadbare, it required some inge- 
nuity to devise any plan that should possess the charm 
of novelty to recommend it." This purpose was com- 
pletely answered, however, by a proposal of Command- 
er Hoppner to attempt a masquerade, in which officers 
and men should alike take a part ; but which, without 
imposing any restraint whatever, should leave every one 
to their own choice, either to join in this diversion or 
not. Parry was delighted with it. 

"It is impossible that any idea could have proved more 
happy or more exactly suited to our situation. Admirably 
dressed characters of various descriptions readily took their 
parts, and many of these were supported with a degree of 
spirit and genuine humor which would not have disgraced 
a more refined assembly ; while the latter might not have 
disdained, and would not have been disgraced by, copying 
the good order, decorum, and inoffensive cheerfulness which 
our humble masquerades presented. It does especial credit 
to the dispositions and good sense of our men, that, though 
all the officers entered fully into the spirit of these amuse- 
ments, which took place once a month, alternately on board 
each ship, no instance occurred of any thing that could in- 
terfere with the regular discipline, or at all weaken the re- 
spect of the men toward their superiors. Ours were mas- 
querades without licentiousness—carnivals without excess." 
—P. 49, 50. 



176 ARCTIC VOYAGES* 

But an occupation of less amusement, perhaps, but 
not less assiduously pursued, and of infinitely more 
eventual benefit, was furnished by the re-establishment 
of schools, under the voluntary superintendence of Mr. 
Hooper in the Hecla, and of Mr. Mogg in the Fury. 

" By the judicious zeal of Mr, Hooper, the Hecla's school 
was made subservient, not merely to the improvement of the 
men in reading and writing (in which, however, their prog- 
ress was sui-prisingly gi'eat), but also to the cultivation of that 
religious feeling which so essentially improves the character of 
a seaman, by famishing the highest motives for increased at- 
tention to every other duty. Nor was the benefit confined to 
the eighteen or twenty individuals whose want of scholarship 
brought them to the school-table, but extended itself to the 
rest of the ship's company, making the whole lower deck 
such a scene of quiet rational occupation as I never before 
witnessed on board a ship. And I do not speak lightly when 
I express my thorough persuasion that to the moral effects 
thus produced upon the minds of the men were owing, in 
a very high degree, the constant, yet sober cheerfulness, the 
uninterrupted good order, and even, in some measure, the ex- 
traordinary state of health which prevailed among us during 
this winter."— P. 50, 51. 

The several officers had full employment during then- 
winter confinement in the various observations to which 
their attention was to be directed. Magnetism was one 
of the earliest subjects after the erection and arrange- 
ment of the observatory on shore. The interesting fact 
was discovered of an increase in the variation of the 
magnetic needle, since their former visit in 1819, amount- 
ing to about nine degrees, namely, from 114° to 123°. 
A regular series of hourly experiments on the magnetic 
intensity was instituted, by which was found a diurnal 
change of intensity, exhibiting a regular increase from 
the morning to the afternoon, and as regular a decrease 
from the afternoon to the morning. " It also appeared," 
says Parry, " that the sun, and, as we had reason to be- 
lieve, the relative position of the sun and moon with ref- 
erence to the magnetic sphere, had a considerable in- 
fluence both on the intensity and diurnal variation, al- 
though the exact laws of this influence may still remain 
to be discovered." It is to be hoped that the result of 
the observations that have been carrying on for three 
years by England and its colonies, and abo 



VOYAGE. 177 

parts of Europe and in America, in observatories espe- 
cially erected for observations and experiments in all that 
regards terrestrial magnetism, will throw much light on 
this interesting, and, *it may be said, mysterious subject. 

The refraction of the atmosphere is fully considered, 
and the method of obtaining it in low temperatures is 
given in a paper by Mr. Fisher. The observed refrac- 
tions of stars at low altitudes and temperatures, the so- 
lar and terrestrial refractions by observations of the sev- 
eral officers, are carefully registered in the Appendix. 
The various meteorological observations employed a con- 
siderable portion of their time ; but this winter, Parry 
says, afforded but few brilliant displays of the aurora. 
One of them, however, is noticed as something remark- 
able. 

" While Lieutenants Sherer, Ross, and myself were ad- 
mixing the extreme beanty of this phenomenon from the ob- 
servatory, we all simultaneously uttered an exclamation of 
surprise at seeing a bright ray of the aurora shoot suddenly 
downward from the general mass of light, andhetween us and 
the land, which was there distant only three thousand yai'ds. 
Had I witnessed this phenomenon by myself I should have 
been disposed to receive with caution the evidence even of 
my own senses as to this last fact ; but the appearance con- 
veying precisely the same idea to three individuals at once, 
all intently engaged in looking toward the spot, I have no 
.doubt that the ray of light actually passed within that dis- 
tance of us." — P. 62. 

It is unnecessary to enumerate the number of lunar 
observations for the longitude, and those for the latitude 
by the sun and various stars, by all the officers ; the ac- 
count of the rates of the chronometers, all of which are 
given in the Appendix, with an account of the Borealian 
Quadrupeds and Birds by Dr. Richardson, of Botany by 
Professor Hooker, and of Zoophytes by Dr. Fleming. 
And it is but justice to all the officers to say that they 
most willingly and cordially followed the example of their 
excellent, intelligent, and indefatigable commander in 
their regularity and attention requisite for making the 
various observations.* 

*An account will be given at the close of this chapter of the several 
subjects contained in the Appendix, and of the officer* rmploved upon 
them. ' * 

12 



178 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

It will readily be imagined with what anxiety, in the 
early part of the year, the reappearance of the sun was 
looked for. S ome, by ascending a high hill, got a glimpse 
of hiin on the 2d of February; on the 15th he was vis- 
ible at the observatory, and at the ships on the 22d, " af- 
ter an absence of one hundred and twenty-one days." 
But it is a long time after the sun's reappearance that 
the effect of his rays, as to warmth, becomes percepti- 
ble ; week after week passes over with scarcely any rise 
in the thermometer, except for an hour or two during 
the day. In this year Parry says the thermometer did 
not rise above zero till the 11th of April, having remained 
below that point of the scale for one hundred and thirty- 
one successive days ; but he mentions this as the only 
instance of the kind he had ever known. 

Parties were sent from Port Bowento travel by land 
on the sea-coast on each side of the port. The first, 
however, was directed to proceed inland to the eastward 
under Commander Hoppner. This party returned af- 
ter a very fatiguing journey, having with difficulty trav- 
eled a degree and three quarters easterly, in the lat. 73° 
19' ; but no appearance of sea was observed in that di- 
rection ; the country consisted of ravines, many of them 
four or five hundred feet deep, and very precipitous. 
During the whole fortnight's excursion scarcely a patch 
of vegetation could be seen ; a few snow-buntings and 
some ivory gulls were all the animals they met with ta 
enliven this most barren and desolate country. 

Hares, foxes, and bears were sparingly met with ; and 
the last animal is not disposed to have any affection for 
mankind. Instances, however, did occur to show that 
maternal affection is not wanting in this animal, but was- 
as apparent in it as in that of the walrus described by 
Beechey : 

" A she-bear, killed in the open water, on our first arrival 
at Port Bowen, afforded a striking instance of maternal affec- 
tion in her anxiety to save her two cubs. She might hex'self 
have easily escaped the boat, but would not forsake her 
young, which she was actually ' towing' off, by allowing them 
to rest on her back, when the boat came near them. A sec- 
ond similar instance occurred in the spring, when two cubs 
having got down into a large crack in the ice, their mother 
placed herself before them, so as to secure them from the at- 



PARRY'S THIRD VOYAGE. 179 

tacks of our people, which she might easily have avoided 
herself."— P. 79. 

The two other parties, consisting of four men each, 
under the respective commands of Lieutenants Sherer 
and Ross, were directed to travel, the former to the 
southward, and the latter to the northward, along the 
coast of Prince Regent's Inlet, for the purpose of sur- 
veying it accurately. Parry was anxious, also, to as- 
certain the state of the ice to the northward, to enable 
him to form some judgment as to the probable time of 
their liberation. These parties found the traveling 
along shore so good as to enable them to extend their 
journeys far beyond the points intended. Lieutenant 
Ross brought the welcome intelligence of the sea being 
perfectly open and free from ice at the distance of twen- 
ty-two miles to the northward of Port Bowen, "by 
which," says Parry, " I concluded — what, indeed, had 
long before been a matter of probable conjecture — that 
Barrow's Strait was not permanently frozen during the 
winter." From the tops of the hills about Cape York, 
beyond which promontory Lieutenant Ross traveled, no 
appearance of ice could be distinguished. 

Lieutenant Sherer returned to the ships about the 
same time, having performed a rapid journey as far as 
72}°, and making an accurate survey of the whole coast 
to that distance ; and Parry regrets that he was not fur- 
nished with more provisions and a larger party, to have 
enabled him to travel round Cape Kater, which is prob- 
ably not far distant from one of the northern Esquimaux 
stations, mentioned in his journal of the preceding voy- 
age. 

On the 12th of July the ice began to break up in the 
neighborhood, and about the same time the ice which 
crossed the mouth of the harbor detached itself at an 
old crack, and drifted off, leaving only about one mile 
and a quarter between the ships and the sea. The 
men were now employed, with the greatest cheerful- 
ness and alacrity, from seven in the morning till seven in 
the evening, daily, when, on the 19th, a very welcome 
stop was put to their operations by the entire separation 
of the floe across the harbor. By a renewal of their 
labor the whole night they succeeded in getting the 



180 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

ships clear, and also, in two hours' towing, out to sea, 
after an imprisonment of between nine and ten months. 

"On standing to sea, we sailed," says Parry, "with 
a light southerly wind, toward the western shore of 
Prince Regent's Inlet, which it was my first wish to 
gain, on account of the evident advantage to be derived 
from coasting the southern part of that portion of land 
called in the chart 'North Somerset,' as far as it might 
lead to the westward ; which, from our former knowl- 
edge we had reason to suppose it would do, as far, at 
least, as the longitude of 95°, in about the parallel of 
72£°, that is, at Cape Garry." But on his first voyage 
he had been below 70° (Cape Kater), on the east coast, 
and the two shores were nearly parallel to each other : 
and there the crossing might not have been difficult ; be- 
sides the certainty of going down an eastern coast, in 
comparison of taking a western one, according to Cap- 
tain Parry's own showing, makes it the more remarka- 
ble he did not choose the former. It might also have 
been supposed that a desire to extend the knowledge of 
the eastern coast might have been a strong inducement, 
even if only to examine the opening of the Fury and 
Hecla Strait into the Regent's Inlet, which Mr. Reid's 
report leaves in rather an unsatisfactory state, and also 
to have looked into the Gulf of Akkoolee, which is de- 
scribed by the Esquimaux lady. 

Parry, however, had doubtless good reasons for his 
choice, one of which was the apparent tendency to the 
westward of the shore of North Somerset. That he 
had well weighed the case appears by his own showing: 

" I shall first mention (he says) a circumstance which has 
particularly forced itself upon my notice in the course of our 
vainous attempts to penetrate through the ice in these regions, 
which is, that the eastern coast of any portion of land, or, 
what is the same thing, the western sides of seas or inlets, 
having a tendency at all approaching to north and south, are. 
at a given season of the year, generally more encumbered 
with ice than the shores with an opposite aspect. The four 
following instances (he continues) may be adduced in illus- 
tration of this fact, and can not but appear somewhat striking 
when considered in viewing a map which exhibits the rela 
tive position of the shores in question." — P. 176. 

The four instances he gives are generally known, and 



parry's third voyage. 181 

admitted to be as he says. First, in the Northern Sea, 
from lat. 60° to 80°, bounded on the east by Lapland 
and Spitzbergen, and on the west by Greenland, the 
whole of the latter coast is blocked up by ice through- 
out the summer, so as to make it at least a matter of no 
easy enterprise to approach it, while the navigation of 
the eastern portion of that sea is annually and without 
difficulty performed by whalers and others. 

The second instance is equally well known in the nav- 
igation of Davis's Strait, which, from about Resolution 
Island in 61|°, to the parallel of 70°, is inaccessible as 
late as the month of August, while the sea is open on 
the eastern side of the strait (the western coast of Green- 
land) many weeks before that time. 

The third he mentions is his own case, when coasting 
the eastern shore of Melville Peninsula, on his first voy- 
age, so loaded with ice as to make the navigation difficult 
and dangerous. 

The fourth instance mentioned by Parry is the east- 
ern side of Fox's Channel, where, from that navigator's 
account in 1631, and that of Baffin in 1615, " as from our 
own observation," there is little or no ice during the sum- 
mer season ; but he might also have added that the east- 
ern coast of Southampton Island appears to be always 
choked with ice. 

The fourth and last instance of the same kind, "which," 
says Parry, " I shall mention, is that of Prince Regent's 
Inlet, and of which the events of this and a former voy- 
age furnish too striking a proof, the ice appearing always 
to cling to the western shore in a very remarkable man- 
ner, while the opposite coast is comparatively free from 
it."' 

And a fifth, on account of the accumulation of ice, 
may be added to the list, by mentioning the southern 
and eastern coast of Melville Island, whose shores ap- 
pear to be the receptacle of all the ice that is driven east- 
ward from the western sea, of which it is supposed to 
be the outermost barrier island ; at least Sir John Frank- 
lin, from the view he had on the southern coast, thinks 
it to be so. 

Captain Parry is not a man to act hastily or indiscreet- 
ly, and it would appear that the preference given to the 

Q 



182 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

western coast was influenced, partly at least, by an ar- 
dent desire of acquiring an accession to the geographi- 
cal knowledge of a strait or inlet which he had reason to 
believe would conduct him into the Polar Sea, through 
which he conceived the sought-for passage to the Pacif- 
ic could best be made; for he says: " It was the gen- 
eral feeling at this period (24th of July) among us, that 
the voyage had but now commenced. The labors of a 
bad summer, and the tedium of a long winter, were for- 
gotten in a moment, when we found ourselves upon 
ground not hitherto explored, and with every apparent 
prospect before us of making as rapid a progress as the 
nature of this navigation will permit toward the final ac- 
complishment of our object." The trending of the west- 
ern shore to the westward might also have contributed 
to the choice of that side ; the only surprise is, that af- 
ter the cases he has given, all of them adverse to it, he 
should have resolved to adopt it. 

The ships continued to proceed southerly close in with 
the western shore, having alternately open water and 
floating ice, to which they had occasionally to make fast. 
On the 28th the ice was observed to be in rapid motion 
toward the shore. The Hecla was immediately beset, 
in spite of every exertion ; and after breaking two of the 
largest ice-anchors in endeavoring to heave in to the 
shore, was obliged to drift with the ice. On the 29th 
the ships were so close in with the shore, that, after 
shifting the Hecla into " a less insecure berth" Parry 
says " he walked to a broad valley facing the sea near us." 
The cliffs next the sea, four or five hundred feet in per- 
pendicular height, were continually breaking down ; and 
" the ships lay so close to the shore as to be almost with- 
in the range of some of these tumbling masses, there be- 
ing at high water scarcely beach enough for a person to 
walk along the shore." 

On the 30th of July the Hecla's berth was shifted to 
a greater distance from the shore, by which Parry says 
"the security of the ship was much altered for the 
worse ;" the Fury remained where she was, " there 
being no second berth even so good as the bad one where 
she was now lying." On the 31st it blew a hard gale, 
which brought the ice closer and closer, till it pressed 



parry's third voyage. 183 

with very considerable violence on both ships, " though 
the most upon the Fury, which lay in a very exposed 
situation." The Hecla had only two or three hawsers 
broken. Early the next morning (the 31st) Command- 
er Hoppner sent to inform Captain Parry that the Fury 
had been forced on the ground, where she still lay, but 
that she would probably be hove off without much diffi- 
culty at high water, provided the external ice did not pre- 
vent it. 

A broad channel of water appearing at a little distance, 
and a fresh breeze springing up, the ships were cast, and 
their heads the right way, to reach this channel, when 
the ice came bodily in upon the ships, which were al- 
most instantly beset, and in such a manner " as to be lit- 
erally helpless and unmanageable." Captain Parry ob- 
serves that, in such cases, " the exertions made by heav- 
ing at hawsers, or otherwise, are of little more service 
than in the occupation they furnish to the men's minds 
under circumstances of difficulty ; for when the ice is 
fairly acting against the ship, ten times the strength and 
ingenuity could in reality avail nothing." 

The body of ice setting to the southward, the two 
ships were carried with it to some short distance, when 
the Hecla, after thus driving about a mile, quite close to 
the shore, struck the ground forcibly several times, and 
being brought up by it, remained immovable. The Fuiy, 
continuing to drive, " was now irresistibly carried past 
us, and we escaped, only by a few feet, the damage in- 
variably occasioned by ships coining in contact under 
such circumstances." She drove about three hundred 
yards, the ice pressing her on as well as along the shore, 
when she received a severe shock from a large floe- 
piece, forcing her directly against a grounded mass of 
ice upon the beach. The Hecla and Fury continued 
both aground, the latter, by Hoppner's report, so severe- 
ly " nipped" and strained as to leak a good deal, and that 
she was heavily pressed both upon the ground and against 
the huge mass of ice. Both ships, however, got off at 
high water ; but on the night of the second of August 
the ice once more forced the Fury on shore, and the 
Hecla narrowly escaped. 

" I rowed on board the Fury," says Parry, " and 



184 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

found four pumps constantly going to keep the ship free, 
and Commander Hoppner, his officers and men, almost 
exhausted with the incessant labor of the last eight-and- 
forty hours." The two commanders set out in a boat to 
survey the shore to the southward, in search of a place 
where the Fury, unable to proceed any farther without 
repairs, might be hove down, ruinous as such a necessity 
must be. At about a mile farther down they found a 
place where three grounded masses of ice had three to 
four fathoms water within them, and which, with the as- 
sistance of art, might afford something like shelter. On 
returning, the ice had closed in, so as not only to prevent 
their moving, but that the smallest external pressure must 
inevitably force them ashore, neither ship having more 
than two feet of water to spare. They were, however, 
soon relieved, and both ships enabled to proceed to the 
place of the three bergs, where the formation of a basin 
was commenced, and completed by the 16th of August ; 
all the Fury's stores, provisions, and other articles were 
landed, and she was hove down on the 18th. A gale of 
wind, however, destroyed the bergs, and made it neces- 
sary for both ships to be towed out into the sea, or, rath- 
er, the ice. The Fury was reloaded, but on the 21st 
this unfortunate ship was again driven on shore. 

As every farther attempt to put her into a state of 
repair was now hopeless, Parry, after visiting her for 
the last time, says, " every endeavor of ours to get her 
off, or, if got off, to float her to any known place of 
safety, would be at once utterly hopeless in itself, and 
productive of extreme risk to our remaining ship." A 
survey, therefore, was held upon her ; and Commander 
Hoppner, with the other officers, were of opinion " that 
an absolute necessity existed for abandoning the Fury :" 
" my own opinion," says Parry, " being thus confirmed 
as to the utter hopelessness of saving her, aud feeling 
more strongly than ever the responsibility which at- 
tached to me of preserving the Hecla unhurt, it was 
with extreme pain and regret that I made the signal for 
the Fury's officers and men to be sent for their clothes, 
most of which had been put on shore with the stores." 

The incessant labor, the constant state of anxiety, 
and the frequent and imminent danger into which the 



PARRY 3 THIRD VOYAGE. 185 

surviving ship was thrown, in the attempts to save her 
comrade, which were continued for five-and-twenty 
days, destroyed eveiy reasonable expectation hitherto 
cherished of the ultimate accomplishment of this object. 
"I was therefore," says Parry, "reduced to the only 
remaining conclusion that it was my duty, under all the 
circumstances of the case, to return to England, in com- 
pliance with the plain tenor of my instructions. As 
soon as the boats were hoisted up, therefore, and the 
anchor stowed, the ship's head was put to the north- 
eastward, with a light air off the land, in order to gain 
an offing before the ice should again set in-shore." 

A breeze springing up on the 27th from the north- 
ward, immediate advantage was taken of it to stretch 
over to the eastern shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, 
which was done with scarcely any obstruction from ice, 
and the Hecla entered Neill's Harbor (a little to the 
southward of Port Bowen) in order to prepare her 
completely for crossing the Atlantic. Here one man, 
John Pages, seaman of the Fury, departed this life, 
having been for several months affected with a scrofu- 
lous disorder, the only case which proved fatal in either 
ship. 

All being ready, and the water clear of ice, the Hecla 
weighed, and stood out to sea on the last day of August. 
On the first of September she entered Barrow's Strait, 
the sea there perfectly open, by which they were ena- 
bled to bear away to the eastward. In crossing Lan- 
caster Sound they observed a more than usual quantity 
of icebergs, being in proportion of at least four to one 
that they had ever before observed there. They en- 
tered Baffin's Bay, still in an open sea. On the 7th of 
September they had reached the latitude of 72° 30', 
having, in the course of eighty miles, only made a sin- 
gle tack, when they came to the margin of the ice, and 
got into an open sea on its eastern side. At this time 
there were thirty -nine bergs in sight, " and some of 
them certainly not less than 200 feet in height." On 
the 10th of October they made Mould Head, near the 
northwest end of the Orkney Islands. Captain Parry 
landed at Peterhead on the 12th, and arrived at the 
Admiralty on the 16th ; the Hecla at Sheerness on th« 
Q2 



186 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

20th of October, and was paid off at Woolwich on the 
21st of November. 

This last attempt for the discovery of a northwest 
passage, it must be admitted, is the least successful of 
the three that Captain Parry has now made, not merely 
as to any information regarding the passage, but as to 
any extension of geographical knowledge or of natural 
history. Of all the Arctic countries visited by him, the 
two shores of Prince Regent's Inlet are the most naked 
and barren, the most dreary and desolate, that have 
been seen, not excepting even Melville Island — not 
merely desolate of human beings, but almost deprived, 
also, of all animal and vegetable life ; a gloomy, sad, and 
melancholy land. " We have scarcely," says Parry, 
*' ever visited a coast on which so little of animal life 
occurs. For days together only one or two seals, a sin- 
gle sea-horse, and now and then a flock of ducks, were 
seen." An exception, however, occurred in the num- 
berless kittiwakes flying about, and some hundreds of 
white whales sporting about the place where the Fury 
was abandoned. 

The transient view which was taken of Prince Re- 
gent's shores on the first voyage was favorable enough 
to impress on the mind of Parry, on the failure of his 
second voyage, that to get fairly into the Polar Sea, 
" there is no known opening which seems to present 
itself so favorably for this purpose as Prince Regent's 
Inlet." And he repeats, in the voyage now under con- 
sideration, " to that point, therefore, I can, in the pres- 
ent state of our knowledge, have no hesitation in still 
recommending that any future attempt should be di- 
rected." His advice was followed, and a second ship 
was left behind. A third, it is to be hoped, will never 
again attempt this vile inlet, even although it has since 
been ascertained, from another quarter, that its waters 
do communicate with the western portion of the Polar 
Sea ; such communication, however, gives no encour- 
agement for ships of any size to make the trial of a 
passage into the Polar Sea by this route ; but more of 
this hereafter. 

An indifferent person, who has but carelessly glanced 
over the three expeditions, or another who has studied 



PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. 187 

and taken an interest in the subject, would most proba- 
bly come to a different opinion from Captain Parry, and 
be disposed to think that, in any farther search for a 
northwest passage, the Strait of the Fury and Hecla 
and the Prince Regent's Inlet should equally be avoided, 
for, leading into one another, they may be considered 
as one and the same thing, and alike unfavorable to safe 
navigation. The additional encouragement which Parry 
says has been afforded by the favorable appearances of 
a navigable sea near the southwestern extremity of 
Prince Regent's Inlet, if it had any existence beyond 
appearances, might certainly lead to the conclusion that 
the northern coast of America could be approached by 
that route ; but neither Parry at this time, nor indeed 
any one, being at all aware of what the American coast 
consisted of, with its sea encumbered with ice and isl- 
ands, and navigable only by boats or canoes, could have 
been of a veiy different opinion. Franklin and Rich- 
ardson, Dease and Simpson, have now fully acquainted 
us with the nature of that coast. It is true it is a con- 
tinuous coast from the bottom of Regent's Inlet, and 
therefore falls in with the settled opinion of Captain 
Parry, who says "he is more than ever impressed with 
the belief that the only way in which a ship can, with 
tolerable certainty, succeed in penetrating any consider- 
able distance, is by watching the openings occasionally 
produced by winds and tides between a body of ice 
when detached and movable, and some land continuous 
in the same direction." 

This passage was written on the second voyage, and 
remains, he says, wholly unaltered in the present, which 
is the more remarkable, after the constant and imminent 
danger to the two ships, and the total loss of one of 
them, while struggling to make way along continuous 
land, between which and masses of ice t always in mo- 
tion, they were to make their progress. It is difficult 
to imagine how a ship at anchor, or loose, placed near 
the shore on which large masses of ice are thrown, ca- 
priciously it may be said, for it is never known to what 
point they may be directed, can possibly escape destruc- 
tion, especially among straits and narrow passages be- 
tween islands. Suppose a person of ordinary intellect 



188 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

should be told, as Captain Parry will tell him, that during 
the time his ships were made fast on the dangerous 
coast which has been spoken of, " the ice was setting 
to the southward, and sometimes at a rapid rate, full 
seven days out of every ten," would not such a person 
naturally ask, why was advantage not taken of such an 
auxiliary when going in the right direction ? Captain 
Parry has replied to such a question. 

" On numerous occasions the ships might easily have been 
placed among the ice, and left to drift with it, in comparative, 
if not absolute security, where the holding them on has been 
preferred, though attended with hourly and imminent peril. 
This was precisely the case on the present occasion ; the 
ships might certainly have been pushed into the ice a day or 
two or even a week beforehand, and thus preserved from all 
risk of being forced on shore ; but where they would have 
been drifted, and where they would have been again disen- 
gaged from the ice, or at liberty to take advantage of the oc- 
casional openings in-shore (by which alone the navigation of 
these seas is to be performed with any degree of certainly), 
I believe it impossible for any one to form the most distant 
idea."— P. 148. 

It will, perhaps, be considered indiscreet in a lands- 
man to question the opinion of one of such great nauti- 
cal skill, and so well experienced in the navigation of 
seas hampered with ice, whose exertions have been so 
honorable to himself and satisfactory to his employers ; 
but he is of too liberal a nature to take amiss, on a mat- 
ter of fact, what is well meant, however it may differ 
from his own opinion. Fully persuaded that none can 
rise from the perusal of his " Northern Voyages" with- 
out being impressed with a decided conviction that his 
merits as an officer and scientific navigator are of the 
highest order; that his talents are not confined to his 
professional duties, but that the resources of his mind 
are equal to the most arduous situations, and fertile in 
expedients under every circumstance, however difficult, 
dangerous, or unexpected — such a man may safely ven- 
ture, not merely to tolerate, but even to invite criticism, 
when candidly, honestly, and faithfully offered. Par- 
ry's heart still continues to cling to the accomplishment 
of a northwest passage, and most undoubtedly would put 
in practice such measures as, in his opinion and experi- 



parry's third voyage. 189 

ence, lie considers most likely to attain that object. He 
says: 

" I feel confident that the undertaking, if it be deemed ad- 
visable at any future time to pursue it, will one day or other 
be accomplished ; for, setting aside the accidents to which, 
from their very nature, such attempts must be liable, as well 
as other unfavorable circumstances which human foresight 
can never guard against nor human power controll, I can not 
but believe it to be an enterprise well within the reasonable 
limits of practicability. It may be tried often, and often fail, 
for several favorable and fortunate circumstances must be 
combined for its accomplishment ; but I believe, neverthe- 
less, that it will ultimately be accomplished." — P. 184, 185. 

He goes on to say, " I am much mistaken indeed if 
the northwest passage ever becomes the business of a 
single summer ; nay, I believe that nothing but* a concur- 
rence of very favorable circumstances is likely even to 
make a single winter in the ice sufficient for its accom 
plishment. But this is no argument against the possi- 
bility of final success ; for we now know that a winter in 
the ice may be passed not only in safety, but in health 
and comfort." This is very true, at least in his own 
particular case, who had so many resources at his com- 
mand; and no objection can be raised on the additional 
expense in wear and tear, in provisions and stores, and 
in the double pay of officers and men, except by that 
particular class of persons known by the name of utilita- 
rians; the liberal-minded would not consider the increased 
expense thrown away when the honor of the nation, the 
interests of science, the improvement of navigation, and 
the employment of our rising officers and best seamen, 
are the objects contemplated. 

While on this point, it is too remarkable a circumstance 
to be omitted, that none of our early navigators in the 
Polar regions ever passed a winter there, and rarely lost 
one of their small and fragile barks of 50, 40, 30, and 
down to 15 tons. Parry takes occasion to bestow a well- 
deserved testimony to the valuable, persevering, and ex- 
traordinary labors of these men. 

" I should be doing but imperfect justice to the memory of 
these extraordinary men, as well as to my own sense of their 
merits, if I permitted the present opportunity to pass without 



190 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

offering a still more explicit and decided testimony to the val- 
ue of their labors. The accounts of Hudson, Baffin, and Da- 
vis (and first of all, Frobisher) are the productions of men of 
no common stamp. They evidently relate things just as they 
saw them, dwelling on such nautical and hydrographical no- 
tices as, even at this day, are valuable to any seaman going 
over the same ground, and describing every appearance of 
nature, whether on the land, the sea, or the ice, with a de 
gree of faithfulness which can alone, perhaps, be duly appre 
ciated by those who succeed them in the same regions and 
under similar circumstances. The general outline of the 
lands they discovered was laid down by themselves with such 
extraordinary precision, even in longitude, as scarcely to re- 
quire correction in modem times ; of which fact the oldest 
maps now extant of Baffin's Bay and the Straits of Hudson 
and Davis, constructed from the original materials, will afford 
sufficient proof. The same accuracy is observable in their 
accounts of the tides, soundings, and bearings, phenomena in 
which the lapse of 200 years can have wrought but little 
change. It is, indeed, impossible for any one personally ac- 
quainted with the phenomena of the icy seas to peruse the 
plain and unpretending narratives of these navigators with- 
out recognizing in almost every event they relate some cir- 
cumstance familiar to his own recollection and experience, and 
meeting with numberless remarks which bear most unequiv- 
ocally about them the impress of truth. 

" While thus doing justice to the faithfulness and accuracy 
with which they recorded their discoveries, one can not less 
admire the intrepidity, perseverance, and skill with which, 
inadequately furnished as they were, those discoveries were 
effected, and every difficulty and danger braved. That any 
man, in a single frail vessel of five-and-twenty tons, ill found 
in most respects, and wholly unprovided for wintering, hav- 
ing to contend with a thousand real difficulties, as well as 
with numberless imaginary ones, which the superstitions 
then existing among sailors would not fail to conjure up — 
that any man, under such circumstances, should, two hun- 
dred years ago, have persevered in accomplishing what our 
old navigators did accomplish, is, I confess, sufficient to cre- 
ate in my mind a feeling of the highest pride on the one 
hand, and almost approaching to humiliation on the other; of 
pride, in remembering that it was our countrymen who per- 
formed these exploits ; of humiliation, when I consider how 
little, with all our advantages, we have succeeded in going 
beyond them. 

" Indeed, the longer our experience has been in the navi- 
gation of the icy seas, and the more intimate our acquaint- 



VOYAGE. 191 

ance with all its difficulties and all its precariousness, the 
higher have our admiration and respect been raised for those 
who went before us in these enterprises. Persevering in 
difficulty, unappalled by danger, and patient under distress, 
they scarcely ever use the language of complaint, much less 
that of despair ; and sometimes, when all human hope seems 
at its lowest ebb, they furnish the most beautiful examples 
of that firm reliance on a merciful and superintending Provi- 
dence which is the only rational source of true fortitude in 
man. Often, with their narratives impressed upon my mind, 
and surrounded by the very difficulties which they in their 
frail and inefficient barks undauntedly encountered and over- 
came, have I been tempted to exclaim, with all the enthusi- 
asm of Purchas, ' How shall I admire your heroicke courage, 
ye marine worthies, beyond names of worthiness!' " — P. 181, 
182, 183. 

This is the third and last attempt of Captain Parry to 
discover a northwest passage from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, but it is by no. means his last attempt at Polar 
discovery ; it has, in fact, been followed up with an en- 
terprise not more novel than perilous — an attempt to ap- 
proach the North Pole, in which he will again appear, 
in the present narrative, in that bold and fearless charac- 
ter, which, if it fail of complete success, will at least 
most unquestionably have deserved it. 

It may not be amiss, in closing the narrative of this 
voyage, to insert a few desultory remarks chiefly from 
the Appendix. During the winter months in which the 
ships were shut up in Bowen's Harbor, the respective 
officers employed themselves in collecting and arranging 
the observations that were made in the course of the 
voyage,* down to the period of' their release, a very 
brief extract from which must here serve. It is almost 
unnecessary to say that all astronomical observations 
connected with navigation were strictly attended to by 
the commander of the expedition and his colleague Hopp- 
ner, by Lieutenants Foster, Sherer, Ross, and by Mr. 
Hooper, as observations for deteraiining the longitude : 

By occupations of fixed stars. 

By fixed stars and the Moon — Foster. 

* There i3 no Appendix in the Second Voyage : the collections of nat- 
ural history, and certain of the observations, are included in the preseni 



192 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

By transit of the Moon — Foster. 
By Jupiter's satellites — Foster. 
Magnetic dip of needle — Parry and Foster. 
Variation — Parry and various officers. 

The Board of Longitude having suggested that one 
of the objects of the present voyage should be the de 
termination of the figure of the earth, by means of the 
vibration of a pendulum, the apparatus of Captain Hen- 
ry Kater's construction was supplied to the expedition, 
and placed in charge of Lieutenant Henry Foster. As 
it was necessary that the number of vibrations of the 
same pendulum should be known at different places, Mr. 
Pond, the Astronomer Royal, allowed the trial to be 
made at Greenwich. The results of the experiments, 
as stated by Lieutenant Foster, give briefly — 

Number of vibrations at Greenwich . . 86,159,434 
Ditto at Port Bowen . . 86,230,242 

Length of seconds' pendulum in the 

latitude of Greenwich .... 39-13911 inches. 
Ditto at Port Bowen 39-203468 do. 

Whence, Mr. Foster says, the fraction expressing the 
diminution of gravity from the pole to the equator is 
0054155, and 

The ellipticity of the earth, _L — 

That of the French geometricians, — L — 

Sabine from the north, — L.-. 

289-1 

Sabine, Melville Island, — L__ 

' ' 312-ti 

From Lieutenant James Clarke Ross the Appendix 
contains a brief account of the quadrupeds, birds, fishes, 
and insects, and invertebrate animals. There is also an 
account by Sir William Hooker of the plants found in 
the course of this voyage. These may be briefly stated 
as under, embracing both east and west coast of this por- 
tion of America. 

Quadrupeds. — The Polar Bear — Arctic Fox — Lemming 
— Polar Hare — Reindeer — Rough Seal — Black Whale — Nar 
whal. 

Birds. — Iceland Falcon — -Snowy Owl — Raven — Lapland 
Finch — Snow-Bunting — Ptarmigan — Rock Grouse — Willow 
Partridge — Golden Plover — Phalarope, 2 species — Gulls, 6 



VARRv's THIRD VOYAGE, 193 

species — Eider Ducks, and vari* as others — Little Auk, and 2 
others. • 

Fishes, — Gphidium, 2 species- -Cottus, 2 specios — Pleuro- 
nectes, not very numerous. 

Insects, — 12 species, 4 of them Spiders, 1 Bee, 1 Ant, 1 
Gnat, 1 Butterfly-; the other four are Simulium, Ctenophorae, 
Bombus, and Bombyx. 

The Invertebrate animals, which are numerous, and 
not of very familiarized names in Latin, may be passed 
over. 

The Botany of the last two voyages, by Sir William 
Hooker, embraces 21 families of the natural order, but, 
as he observes, " a small number of species, owing to the 
few opportunities that were afforded for the officers to 
go on shore, as well as to the extreme poverty of the 
soil in those places that were visited." 

Of the notes on the geology of the countries visited, 
in the second and the present voyage, by Professor 
Jameson, who also gives a few concluding remarks on 
the geology of the four Arctic Expeditions, a brief ab- 
stract is as follows : 

1. That the regions explored abound in primitive, 
transition, and secondary rocks ; partial alluvial deposits ; 
modern volcanic rocks not met with ; few traces of ter- 
tiary strata. 

2. That primitive and transition islands at one time 
probably connected, and formed a mass with the conti- 
nent of America, in the plains and hollows of which were 
deposited the secondary limestones, sandstones, gypsum, 
and coal; on these, again, the tertiary rocks. 

3. 4, 5. Purely speculative. 

, 6. The bowlders or rolled blocks afford evidence of the 
passage of water across the places where found. 

7. No traces of the agency of modern volcanoes any 
where except in Jan Mayen * Island. 

8. No intimations of oldei volcanic action, except in 
the presence of secondary t ap rocks, such as basalt, 
greenstone, trap tufa, and am} ^daloid. 

9. That black bituminous coal (the oldest formation) 
found in Melville Island and in Old Greenland, forms an 
interesting feature in the geognostical constitution of Arc- 
tic countries. 

13 R 



194 ARCTIC VOYAGES, 

10. That the red sandstone of Possession Bay, &c, 
renders it probable that rocR salt may occur in that quar- 
ter. 

11. That the regions explored by Captain Parry have 
afforded various interesting and highly useful ores, such 
as octahedral, or magnetic iron ore ; rhomboidal, or red 
iron ore ; prism%tic, or brown iron ore ; and chromate 
of iron ; also the eommon ore of copper, or copper py- 
rites, and sulphuret of molybd&ena ; ore of titanium, and 
that valuable mineral, graphite, or black-lead. 

12. That gems are not wanting hi the Arctic regions 
is proved by the abundance of the precious garnet, which, 
on more particular examination of the primitive rocks r 
will no doubt be found to present all the beautiful colors 
and elegant forms for which that stone is so much ad- 
mired. Rock crystal, beryl, and zircon have also been 
met with. 

13. That these countries exhibit the same general ge- 
ognostical arrangements as occur in other countries ex- 
amined by the naturalist; " a fact," says the professor, 
" which strengthens that opinion, which maintains that 
the great features of nature in the mineral kingdom are 
every where similar, and consequently that the same 
general agencies must have prevailed generally during 
the formation of the solid mass of the earth." 

14. And Professor Jameson concludes his remarks in 
the 14th paragraph with a general observation, so beau- 
tifully expressed in language, and so true in substance, 
that it would be well worth the attention of the modern 
physiologist, with his new creations springing out of fiery 
mists, to leave his unsubstantial visions, and imitate the 
professor's creed, 

" That the apparent irregularities which at first sight 
present themselves to our attention in the grand arrange- 
ments in the mineral kingdom are the offspring of our own 
feeble powers of observation, and disappear when the phe- 
nomena are examined in all their relations. It is then, in- 
deed, that the mind obtains those enduring and sublime 
views of the power of the Deity, which, in geology, rewai-d 
the patient observer, raise one of the most beautiful and in- 
teresting departments of natural science to its true rank, and 
prove that its relations connect, as it were, in the scale of 
magnitude, the phenomena of the earth with those more ex- 



parry's third voyage. 195 

tensive arrangements presented to our intelligence in the 
planetary system, and in the grand framework of the universe 
itself."— App., p. 151. 

Captain Party, in observing on the extreme facility 
with which sounds are heard at considerable distances in 
severely cold weather, relates a circumstance that occur- 
red at Port Bowen in confirmation of the fact. " Lieu- 
tenant Foster having occasion to send a man from the 
observatory to the opposite shore of the harbor, a meas- 
ured distance of 6696 feet (about a mile and two tenths), 
in order to fix a meridian mark, had placed a second per- 
son half way between, to repeat his directions ; but he 
found, on trial, that this precaution was unnecessary, as 
he could without difficulty keep up a conversation with 
the man at the distant station. The thermometer at the 
time was 18° ; the barometer, 30*14 inches ; weather 
calm, clear, and serene." 

The Aurora is stated to have appeared forty-seven 
nights from October to March, fifteen times in January, 
five in March, and two in October. Nothing particular 
is said of its appearance, and no one ever heard any 
sound produced. The Aurora had no effect on the va- 
riation needles, which were suspended (not supported) 
in the most delicate manner. 

The atmosphere during the winter months is stated to 
have been favorable to the excitement of electricity ; but 
none could be made apparent, though Parry says the 
electrometer with gold leaf was applied to the chain, 
which was attached to the mast head by glass rods, the 
upper link, above the mast head, being 115 feet above 
the level of the sea ; but it was without the slightest 
perceptible effect. 

A word on the difference of temperature, and of the 
different quantities of ice on the east and west shores of 
continents, islands, or straits : a well-known fact, but 
which does not appear to have been satisfactorily ex- 
plained — why the western coasts of continents and isl- 
ands, of straits and inlets, should be less subject to be 
hampered with ice than the eastern ones ? The fact is 
decidedly so, as many instances, in addition to those 
mentioned by Captain Parry, might be given. If the 
easterly winds were the most prevalent and powerful, 



196 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

the floes and masses of ice would Ho doubt be driven by 
them to the easterly coast ; but it would rather appear 
that within the Arctic Circle the northerly and westerly 
winds mostly prevail. The same thing obtains with re- 
gard to temperature, whether on the coasts of continents 
or islands, or even in the broad streets of towns, lying in a 
north and south direction. Thus, on the western coast of 
America, up as far as Cook's River, between the latitude 
of 55° and 60°, the little certhias and the humming-birds 
are said to be chirping and singing, when from New- 
foundland in 50°, down to Philadelphia in 40°, frost and 
snow cover the water and the ground. At home, the 
difference of temperature between the western coast or 
islands of Scotland and the eastern coast is so -great, that 
the late Lady Bute found the Isle of Bute more conge- 
nial with her constitution than even England. The coast 
of Devonshire is of a much milder temperature than the 
coast of Norfolk. On the same principle, the east side 
of Regent-street, facing the west, will always be found 
more dry and free from moisture than the opposite side, 
facing the east; and so will the east side of Regent's 
Park be more dry, and the houses more free from moist- 
ure, than on the western side. 

From what cause does this proceed ? May it not be 
explained by the fact that, at or a little before sunrise, 
the temperature of the atmosphere is much lower than 
at or a little after sunset, and that, from the former pe- 
riod to the meridian, the influence of the sun is consid- 
erably less than from the meridian to the latter ; in oth- 
er words, that the power of the sun during the first half 
of the day, when his rays pass over the eastern land, is 
much less than when he is pouring his beams on the 
western land for the second half of the day ? If it be 
conceded that the setting sun shedding its rays on a west- 
ern coast creates a more warm or mild temperature than 
is felt by the more oblique rays at the same time shed 
on the eastern land, perhaps it may assist to solve the 
problem ; but the difference is not so great as to explain 
the cause of the permanently-fixed ice, for instance, on 
the east coast of Greenland, or of Southampton Island, 
and many other coasts running north and south. 

" These facts, when taken together," Parry says, 






parry's polar voyage. 197 

••have long ago impressed me with an idea that there 
must exist in the Polar region some general motion of 
the sea toward the west, causing the ice to set in that 
direction when not impelled by contrary winds, or local 
and occasional currents, until it butts against those shores 
which are actually found to be most encumbered by it;' 
and he gives instances of ships being set to the westward 
in opposition to a strong wind blowing from that quarter ; 
and, having stated the facts, he concludes by suggesting, 
for the consideration of others, whether such a tenden- 
cy of the sea as that noticed may not have some con- 
nection with the motion of the earth on its axis. Such 
an idea, it is apprehended, is not tenable, as it is gener- 
ally understood that the motion of the earth carries with 
it both the sea and the atmosphere. 



CHAPTER IX. 
PARRY'S POLAR VOYAGE. 



1827. 



Narrative of an Attempt to reach the North Pole in the Year 
1827. By Captain W. E. Parry. 
When it is considered that Captain Pariy, since the 
year 1818, has made four voyages into the Arctic Seas, 
and has passed four winters in the ice, and that we now 
find him again coming forward in |he year 1827 (having 
but just returned from his last voyage), and proposing 
to Lord Melville a plan of an attempt to reach the North 
Pole by means of traveling with sledge-boats over the 
ice,* or through any spaces of water that might occur, 
this daring attempt brings back to our recollection the 
extreme sufferings of Franklin and Richardson on their 
first journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, which did 
not deter them from immediately setting out a second 
time — when it is farther considered that Franklin is 
now on a voyage in search of a northwest passage, and 

* He adds in a note, " This plan, as originally proposed by Captain 
Franklin, was given to me by Mr. Barrow soon after my return from the 
expedition of 1824-5." 

R2 



H)S ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

add to these the indefatigable labors of Sir James Clarke 
Ross, who has passed seven or eight winters of his life 
in the ice, having recently returned from a three years' 
expedition into the Antarctic Ocean — Avhen these sever- 
al cases are prominently brought before us, the only con- 
clusion to be arrived at is this, that the desire for distinc- 
tion, and the confident hope of meriting it by some new 
discoveiy, overpower eveiy apprehension of danger or 
difficulty, being satisfied that they possess resources 
within themselves, and a sufficient stock of moral cour- 
age to struggle against and to conquer both difficulty and 
danger. There is also something inviting to a seaman's 
mind in exploring new countries, which is not the less 
relished by the access to them being beset with obsta- 
cles which to overcome must sometimes require ex- 
treme suffering, and even the sacrifice of life. 

The enterprise about to be described had plenty of 
novelty, difficulty, and danger to recommend it ; but 
Parry was not a man to rush headlong into a novel and 
perilous scheme without making inquiry into its nature. 
On consulting Phipps's voyage of 1773, he finds Cap- 
tain Lutwidge describing the ice for ten or twelve leagues 
as " one continued plain of smooth, unbroken ice, bound- 
ed only by the horizon." Mr. Scoresby's account was 
stronger still. " I once saw," he says, " a field that was 
so free from either fissure or hommoc, that I imagine, 
had it been free from snow, a coach might have been 
driven many leagues over it in a direct line, without ob- 
struction or danger." Great encouragement these re- 
ports certainly afforded for the progress of a sledge- 
borne boat. Captain Parry, however, adds a farther 
stimulus — that his hopes of success were principally 
founded on the proposition that had been made by his 
friend and brother-officer, Captain Franklin, who had 
himself volunteered to conduct it. 

Two boats were specially constructed for this pur- 
pose, twenty feet long and seven broad, flat-floored, and 
built as stout as wood and iron could make them, and so 
fitted as to contain nautical and other instruments, bags 
of biscuit, pemmican, spare clothing, and a variety of 
smaller stores, chiefly provisions. "A bamboo mast 
nineteen feet long, a tarred duck sail, answering also the 



PARRY* ri POLAR VOYAGE. 199 

purpose of an awning, a spreat, one boat-hook, fourteen 
paddles, and a steer-oar, completed «ach boat's comple- 
ment." Two officers and twelve men (ten of them sea- 
men and two marines) were selected for each boat's 
crew. Each boat, with all her furniture, tools, instru- 
ments, clothing, and provisions of every kind, weighed 
43753 pounds, being 268 pounds in weight for each man, 
exclusive of four sledges, weighing 26 pounds each. 

" My own impartial conviction," says Parry, " at the 
time of setting out on this enterprise, coincided (with a 
single exception) with the opinion expressed by the 
Commissioners of Longitude in their memorial to the 
king, that " the progress of discovery had not arrived 
northward, according to any well-authenticated accounts, 
so far as 81° of north latitude." The exception he al- 
ludes to is in favor of Mr. Scoresby, who states his hav- 
ing, in the year 1806, reached the latitude of 81° 12' 
42" by actual observation, and 81° 30' by dead reckon- 
ing. "I therefore consider," says Parry, "the latter 
parallel as, in all probability, the highest which had ever 
been attained prior to the attempt recorded in the fol- 
lowing pages." 

When all was ready, Captain Parry was appointed 
to the command of H.M. sloop Hecla, with instructions 
to proceed in her to Spitzbergen, to place her in some 
safe harbor or cove, and, leaving her in charge of Lieu- 
tenant Foster, to proceed with the boats directly to the 
northward, using his best endeavors to reach the North 
Pole ; to be careful to return to Spitzbergen before the 
winter sets in, and early enough in the autumn to insure 
the Hecla not being frozen up and obliged to winter there. 
He was to direct Lieutenant Foster to survey the north- 
ern and eastern coasts of Spitzbergen in his absence. 
The officers attached to the Hecla were Lieutenants 
Foster and Crozier, the former a most distinguished sci- 
entific navigator, who, as already said, lost his life on the 
Isthmus of Panama ; the latter now captain of the Ter- 
ror, on the existing voyage of Sir John Franklin, having 
been the second in command to Captain James Ross in 
the South Pole Expedition. Lieutenant James Ross, 
.on the present voyage, commanded the second boat. 

On the 4th of April, 1827, the Be h\ weighed anchor 



200 ARCTIC VOYAGE;?. 

and made sail from the Nore, and on the 19th arrived at 
Hammerfest, where they were to receive on board eight 
reindeer, with a supply of moss (Cenomyce rangiferina) 
for their provender. Here Parry gleaned some instruc- 
tions for the management of the deer. 

" Nothing can be more beautiful than the training of the- 
Lapland reindeer. With a simple collar of skin round his 
neck, a single trace of the same material attached to the pulk 
or sledge, and passing between his legs, and one rein fastened 
hlce a halter round his neck, this intelligent and docile animal 
is perfectly under command of an experienced driver, and 
performs astonishing journeys over the softest snow. When 
the rein is thrown over on the off-side of the animal, he im- 
mediately sets off at full trot r and stops short the instant it is 
thrown back to the near side. Shaking the rein over his back 
is the only whip that is required." — P. 6. 

The quantity of clean moss, per day, for eaeh deer, 
is stated to be four pounds, but they go five or six days 
without provender, and without suffering materially. 
Snow is to them the best kind of water, and ice a com- 
fortable bed. It may well be imagined how valuable- 
such animals were likely to be to the party ; and Parry 
observes, that " the more we became accustomed, and, 
I may say, attached to them, the more painful became 
the idea of the necessity which was likely to exist, of 
ultimately having recourse to them as provisions for our- 
selves." 

On the 14th of May the Hecla rounded Hakluyt's 
Headland, and met with such a tremendous gale of wind 
and gusts from the high land as almost to lay the ship on 
her beam ends, and oblige them to reduce the canvas 
to the main-topsail and stormsails, and let her drive to 
leeward. Parry suggests it might have been such a 
storm as this that gave the name of this headland, in an 
old Dutch chart, the JDuyveVs Hoek. From this time 
till the embarcation in boats, which did not take place till 
after " a close and tedious ' besetment' of twenty -four 
days," that is, from the 14th of May till the 8th of June, 
may be looked on as so much lost time. Indeed, after 
being released, it required a long, anxious, and tedious 
search for a properly secure harbor in which to leave the 
Hecla, where she might conveniently be found on the 









parry's polar voyage. 201 

return of the boats from the northward. Such a spot 
was at length discovered. 

" On the evening of the 18th of June, while standing 
in for the high land to the eastward of Vorlegen Hoek, 
which, with due attention to the land, may be approach- 
ed with safety, we perceived from the crow's-nest what 
appeared a low point, possibly affording some shelter for 
the ship, and which seemed to answer to an indentation 
of the coast laid down in an old Dutch chart, and there 
called Treurenburg Bay ,*" and a fine sheltered bay they 
found it ; they warped in the Hecla with the greatest 
alaerity, and dropped anchor in Hecla Cove in thirteen 
fathoms. 

The neighborhood of this bay, like most of the north- 
ern shores- of Spitzbergen, appeared to have been much 
visited by the Dutch at a veiy early period, of which cir- 
cumstance records were furnished at almost every spot 
where the party landed, by the numerous graves they 
met with. Thirty of- these were found on a point of 
land on the north side of the bay. The bodies had been 
generally deposited in oblong wooden coffins, not buried, 
but merely covered with large stones ; a board near the 
head records the name of the deceased, the ship, her 
commander, and her date ; one was so far back as 1690. 
Parry is right in supposing the name of the. bay to be 
from treuren, to lament, on account of the mortality that 
has occurred there. 

Having now made his final arrangements, and given 
proper directions to Lieutenants Foster and Crozier, 
Captain Parry left the ship with his two boats, which he 
named the Enterprise and the Endeavor, Mr. Beverley 
being attached to his own, and Lieutenant Ross, accom- 
panied by Mr. Bird, in the other. As the season had so 
far advanced, he took only seventy-one days' provisions ; 
and as it appeared highly improbable, from what had 
been seen of the very rugged nature of the ice they 
would first have to encounter, that " either the reindeer, 
the snow-shoes, or the wheels would prove of any ser- 
vice for some time to come, I gave up the idea of taking 
them. We, however, constructed out of the snow- 
shoes four excellent sledges for dragging a part of our 
baggage over the ice, which proved of invaluable service 



202 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

to us, while the rest of the things just mentioned would 
only have been an encumbrance." 

What became of those interesting little creatures, the 
eight reindeer, which were spoken of with a kind of af- 
fectionate regard, while it was hinted that the painful 
necessity might arise of having recourse to them as pro- 
vision, is not stated. It was soon evident, indeed, from 
the appearance of the ice, that they could not be of the 
slightest use, but a great encumbrance in the boats : of 
their ultimate fate no mention is made in the narrative. 

Lieutenant Crozier accompanied the boats as far as 
Walden Island, where a deposit of provisions was left, 
whence they proceeded to Little Table Island to exam- 
ine and resecure the provisions that had been left there 
for their return. The prospect to the northward was 
favorable enough, only a small quantity of loose ice be- 
ing in sight, the weather calm and clear, with the sea as 
smooth as a mirror ; thus " we set off without delay, at 
half past ten, taking our final leave of the Spitzbergen 
shores, as we hoped, for at least two months. The wal- 
ruses here were very numerous, lying in herds upon the 
ice, and plunging into the water to follow us as we pass- 
ed. The sound they utter is something between bellow- 
ing and very loud snorting, which, together with their 
grim, bearded countenances, and long tusks, make them 
appear, as indeed they are, rather formidable enemies 
to contend with. 

" Steering due north, we made good progress, our lat- 
itude, by the sun's meridian altitude at midnight, being 
80° 51' 13". At noon the next day, after a run of two 
hours in open water, with a westerly wind, we were 
stopped by close ice, and obliged to haul the boats upon 
a small floe-piece, the latitude by observation being 81° 
12' 51". 

As this voyage is of so bold and daring a character, and 
in all its circumstances so novel and perfectly unique, no 
description of it, except in the words of the commander 
of the Enterprise himself, can convey to the reader an 
adequate idea of the arrangements and the management 
of it. The usual mode pursued by this gallant party on 
their adventurous voyage is thus described : 

" Our plan of traveling being nearly the same throughout 



PARRY'S POLAR VOYAGE. 20*3 

this excursion, after we first entered upon the ice, I may at 
once give some account of our usual mode of proceeding. It 
was my intention to travel wholly at night, and to rest by 
day, there being, of course, constant daylight in these regions 
during the summer season. The advantages of this plan, 
which was occasionally deranged by circumstances, consisted , 
first, in our avoiding the intense and oppressive glare from 
the snow during the time of the sun's greatest altitude, so as 
to prevent, in some degree, the painful inflammation in the 
eyes called ' snow-blindness,' which is common in all snowy 
countries. We also thus enjoyed greater warmth during the 
hours of rest, and had a better chance of drying our clothes ; 
besides which, no small advantage was derived from the snow 
being harder at night for traveling. The only disadvantage 
of this plan was, that the fogs were somewhat more frequent 
and more thick by night than by day, though even in this re- 
spect there was less difference than might have been sap- 
posed, the temperature during the twenty-four hours under- 
going but little variation. This traveling by night and sleep- 
ing by day so completely inverted the natural order of things, 
that it was difficult to persuade ourselves of the reality. Even 
the officers and myself, who were all furnished with pocket 
chronometers, could not always bear in mind at what part of 
the twenty -four hours we had arrived ; and there were sev- 
eral of the men who declared, and I believe truly, that they 
never knew night from day during the whole excursion.* 

" When we rose in the evening, we commenced our day 
by prayers, after which we took off our fur sleeping-dresses, 
and put on those for traveling; the former being made of 
camlet, lined with racoon skin, and the latter of strong blue 
box-cloth. We made a point of always putting on the same 
stockings and boots for traveling in, whether they had dried 
during the day or not ; and I believe it was only in five or 
six instances, at the most, that they were not either still wet 
or hard frozen. This, indeed, was of no consequence beyond 
the discomfort of first putting them on in this state, as they 
were sure to be thoroughly wet in a quarter of an hour after 
commencing our journey, while, on the other hand, it was 
of vital importance to keep dry things for sleeping in. Being 

* "Had we succeeded in reaching the higher latitudes, where the 
change of the sun's altitude during the twenty-four hours is still less per- 
ceptible, it would have been essentially necessary to possess the certain 
means of knowing this, since an error of twelve hours of time would 
have carried us, when we intended to return, on a meridian opposite to, 
or 180° from, the right one. To obviate the possibility of this, we had 
some chronometers, constructed by Messrs. Parkinson and Frodsham, 
of which the hour-hand made only' one revolution in the day, the twen- 
ty-four hours being marked round the dial-plate," 



04 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

' rigged' for traveling, we breakfasted upon warm cocoa ano 
biscuit, and after stowing the things in the boats and on tho 
sledges, so as to secure them, as much as possible, from wet, 
we set off on our day's journey, and usually traveled from 
five to five and a^balf hours, then stopped an hour to dine ; 
and again traveled four, five, or even six4iours, according to 
circumstances. After this we halted for the night, as we 
called it, though it was usually early in the morning, select- 
ing the largest surface of ice we happened to be near for 
hauling the boats on, in order to avoid the danner of its break- 
ing up by coming in contact with other masses, and also to 
prevent drift as much as possible. The boats were placed 
close alongside each other, with their sterns to the wind, the 
snow or wet cleared out of them, and the sails, supported by 
the bamboo masts and three paddles, placed over them as 
awnings, an entrance being left at the bow. Every man then 
immediately put on dry stockings and fur boots, after which 
we set about the necessary repairs of boats, sledges, or 
clothes ; and, after serving the provisions for the succeeding 
day, we went to supper. Most of the officers and men then 
smoked their pipes, which served to dry the boats and awn- 
ings very much, and usually raised the temperature of our 
lodgings 10° or 15°. This part of the twenty-four hours was 
often a time, and the only one, of real enjoyment to us ; the 
men told their stories, and ' fought all their battles o'er again,' 
and the labors of the day, unsuccessful as they too often were, 
were forgotten. A regular watch was set during our resting- 
time, to look out for bears, or for the ice breaking up round 
us, as well as to attend to the drying of the clothes, each 
man alternately taking this duty for one hour. We then con- 
cluded our day with prayers, and having put on our fur dress- 
es, lay down to sleep with a degree of comfort which per- 
haps few persons would imagine possible under such circum- 
stances ; our chief inconvenience being, that we were some- 
what pinched for room, and therefore obliged to stow rather 
closer than was quite agreeable. The temperature, while 
we slept, was usually from 36° to 45°, according to the state 
of the external atmosphere ; but on one or two occasions, in 
calm and warm weather, it rose as high as 60° to 66°, obli 
ging us to throw off a part of our fur dress. After we had 
slept seven hours, the man appointed to boil the cocoa roused 
us, when it was ready, by the sound of a bugle, when we 
commenced our day in the manner before described. 

" Our allowance of provisions for each man per day wa» 
as follows : 

Biscuit . . . .10 ounces. 

Pemmican 9 " 



parry's polar voyage. 205 

Sweetened Cocoa Powder . 1 ounce to make one pint. 

Pami . . • 1 gill. 

Tobacco . . . . 3 ounces per week. 

Our fuel consisted entirely of spirits of wine, of which two 
pints formed our daily allowence, the cocoa being cooked in 
an iron boiler, over a shallow iron lamp, with seven wicks. 
We usually found one pint of the spirits of wine sufficient for 
preparing our breakfast, that is, for heating 28 pints of water, 
though it always commenced from the temperature of 32°. 
If the weather was calm and fair, this quantity of fuel brought 
it to the boiling point in about an horn- and a quarter, but 
more generally the wicks began to' go out before it had 
reached 200°. This, however, made a very comfortable meal 
to persons situated as we were. Such, with very little vari- 
ation, was our regular routine during the whole of this ex- 
cursion." — P. 55-59. 

The party must have been grievously disappointed on 
finding the state of the ice wholly the reverse of what it 
had been represented before setting out. Instead of be- 
ing a fine, smooth level plain, " over which a coach might 
have been driven many leagues ;" instead of compact 
floes, it consisted entirely of small, loose, and rugged 
masses, obliging them "to make three journeys, and 
sometimes four, with the boats and baggage, and to lanch 
several times across narrow pools of water." And yet 
the descriptions given by Captain Lutwidge and Mr. 
Scoresby might be quite correct at the time, though nov/ 
totally different, the condition of the ice varying from 
year to year. One day, we are told, during heavy rain, 
they advanced but half a mile in four hours. At anoth- 
er time, in thick weather, the ice was so much in mo- 
tion as to make it dangerous to cross with loaded boats, 
the masses being so small. Another day they landed on 
a small floe, but " it proved so rugged that v/e were 
obliged to make three and sometimes four journeys with 
the boats and provisions, and this by a very circuitous 
route, so that the road by which we made a mile of 
northing was a full mile and a half in length, and over 
this we had to travel at least five, and sometimes seven 
times." In short, from the 25th, the day they started, to 
the 30th, it was found, by an observation at midnight, 
that they had reached no higher than 81° 23', " so that 
S 



206 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

we had made only eight miles of northing since our last 
observation at noon on the 25th." 

Captain Parry observes, that as the temperature by 
night and day was liable to little variation, some incon- 
venience was experienced with regard to noticing the 
time. To obviate any mistake which at or near the 
Pole might lead them, by taking the wrong twelve 
hours, to a meridian 180° from the intended one, they 
had some chronometers of which the hour-hand made 
only one revolution in the day, the twenty -four hours 
being marked round the dial-plate. (See page 203 and 
Note on this subject.) 

The 1st of July brought them to no better ice ; a few 
small floes occurred, with pools of water between them, 
the ice less broken up, and sometimes tolerably level ; 
but six to eighteen inches of soft snow lying on the sur- 
face made the traveling very fatiguing, and obliged the 
party to undergo at least two, and sometimes three, jour- 
neys with their loads. On the boats landing on a floe- 
piece, Parry and Ross generally walked on ahead to 
select the easiest road for the boats to follow ; the 
sledges came after them, by which the snow was trod- 
den down, and made easier for the boats. What follows 
is too interesting to be omitted. 

" As soon as we arrived at the other end of the floe, or 
came to any difficult place, we mounted one of the highest 
hommocs of ice near at hand (many of which were from 
fifteen to twenty-five feet above the sea), in order to obtain a 
better view around us ; and nothing could well exceed the 
dreariness which such a view presented. The eye wearied 
itself in vain to find an object but ice and sky to rest upon ; 
and even the latter was often hidden from our view by the 
dense and dismal fogs which so generally prevailed. For 
want of variety, the most trifling circumstance engaged a more 
than ordinary share of our attention; a passing gull, a mass 
of ice of unusual form, became objects which our situation 
and circumstances magnified into ridiculous importance ; and 
we have since often smiled to remember the eager interest 
with which we regarded many insignificant occurrences. It 
may well be imagined, then, how cheering it was to turn 
from this scene of inanimate desolation to our two little boats 
in the distance, to see the moving figures of our men winding 
with their sledges among the hommocs, and to hear once 
more the sound of human voices breaking the stillness of thia 



207 

icy wilderness. In some cases Lieutenant Koss and myself 
took separate routes to try the ground, which kept us almost 
continually floundering among deep snow and water. The 
sledges having been brought up as far as we had explored, 
we all went back for the boats ; each boat's crew, when the 
road was tolerable, dragging their own, and the officers la- 
boring equally hard with the men. It was thus we proceeded 
for nine miles out of every ten that we traveled over ice, for 
it was very rarely indeed that we met with a surface suffi- 
ciently level and hard to drag all our loads at one journey, 
and in a great many instances during thejBrst fortnight we 
had to make three journeys with the boats and baggage ; 
that is, to traverse the same road five times over." — P. 67, 68. 

When they had the good fortune to reach a small floe, 
the snow on its surface was so deep, and the pools of 
water so frequent, that after a laborious day's work the 
distance traversed was perhaps two miles, and rarely 
exceeded five. The snow, moreover, was so soft as to 
take them up to the knee at almost every other step, 
and frequently still deeper, so that they were sometimes 
five minutes together in moving a single empty boat 
with all their united strength. The rain produced a 
greater effect on the snow than the sun. Parry says 
that Ross and himself, in their pioneering duty, were 
so frequently beset, that sometimes, after trying in vain 
to extricate their legs, they were obliged to sit down to 
rest themselves ; and the men, in dragging the sledges, 
were often under the necessity of crawling on all fours 
to make any progress at all. In one place they were 
more than two hours in proceeding one hundred and 
fifty yards. Yet the men worked with cheerfulness 
and good will, hoping to reach the spot (though they 
had long passed it) where Captain Lutwidge found 
" one continued plain of smooth, unbroken ice, bounded 
only by the horizon." 

One day of great fatigue, after stopping to empty 
their boots and wring their stockings, is thus spoken of : 

" We halted for the night at half an hour before midnight, 
the people being almost exhausted with a laborious day's 
work, and our distance made good to the northward not ex- 
ceeding two miles and a quarter. We allowed ourselves this 
night a hot supper, consisting of a pint of soup per man, made 
of an ounce of pemmican each, and eight or ten birds which 



208 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

we had killed in the course of tile last week ; and this was & 
luxury which persons thus situated could perhaps alone duly 
appreciate. We had seen in the course of the day a few 
rotges, a dovekie, a loom, a mollemuck, and two or three 
very small seals." — P. 70. 

On the 12th of July they had reached the latitude of 
82° 14/ 28" ; a brilliant day and clear sky overhead, "an 
absolute luxury to us." The pools and streams on the 
floes increased, and caused the men to make a very cir- 
cuitous route. " If any thing could have compensated for 
the delay these occasioned us, it would have been the 
beautiful blue color peculiar to these super-glacial lakes, 
which is certainly one of the most pleasing tints in na- 
ture." The next day they were in latitude 82° 17' 10" ; 
no bottom with 400 fathoms of line ; temperature of 
water brought up, 31° ; of surface water, 32|° ; of the 
ice, 33° ; of the air, 36°*. " On this day we saw," says 
Parry, " during this last journey, a mollemuck, and a 
second Ross gull ; and a couple of small flies (to us an 
event of ridiculous importance) were found upon the 
ice," but whether living or dead is not recorded. 

No improvement on the 14th, after five hours' un- 
ceasing labor ; the progress was a mile and a half due 
north, though from three to four miles had been trav- 
ersed, and ten at least walked, having made three jour- 
neys a great part of the way, lanched and hauled up 
the boats four times, and dragged them over twenty -five 
separate pieces of ice ; no improvement in the traveling. 
" After more than eleven hours of actual labor on the 
18th, requiring for the most part our whole strength to 
be exerted, we had traveled over a space not exceeding 
four miles, of which only two were made good." But 
this snail-like progress was not the worst that befell 
them ; it was very small, but still it was progress. Now, 
however, the 20th of July, Parry says, 

" We halted at 7 A.M., having hy our reckoning accom- 
plished six miles and a half in a N.N.W. direction, the dis- 
tance traversed being ten miles and a half. It may therefore 
be imagined how great was our mortification in finding that 
our latitude by observation at noon was only 82° 36' 52", 
being less than five miles to the northward of our place at 
noon on the 17th, since which time we bad certainly traveled 
twelve in that direction." — P. 94. 



209 

Under these discouraging circumstances, it "was deem- 
ed prudent to avoid making the fact known to the men ; 
at the same time, a very serious calamity vv r as narrowly 
escaped : the floe on which they were broke under the 
weight of the boats and sledges, and the latter were 
nearly lost through the ice ; some of the men, too, 
went through, but were providentially saved. On the 
22d, however, the ice had considerably improved ; the 
floes became large and tolerably level, and some good 
lanes of water occurring, it was calculated they had 
made between ten and eleven miles, and traversed a 
distance of about seventeen, after, more than twelve 
hours' actual traveling, by which the people were ex- 
tremely fatigued ; " but while the work," says Parry, 
* l seemed to be repaid by any thing like progress, the 
men labored with great cheerfulness to the utmost of 
their strength." It may readily be imagined that the 
improvement of the ice, and with it the increased prog- 
ress, gave much satisfaction, though the encouraging 
prospect was but of short duration* 

" In proportion, then, to the hopes we had begun to enter- 
tain, was our disappointment in finding at noon that we were 
in latitude 82° 43' 5", or not -quite four miles to the north- 
ward of yesterday's observation, instead of the ten or eleven 
which we had traveled! However, we determined to con- 
tinue to the last our utmost exertions, though we could never 
once encourage the men by assuring them of our making 
good progress ; and setting out at seven in the evening, soon 
found that our hope of having permanently reached better ice 
was not to be realized, for the floe on winch, we slept was so 
full of hommocs that it took us just six horns to cross it, the 
^distance in a straight line not exceeding two miles and a 
half."— P. 98, 99. 

Such a result was disheartening enough to the offi- 
cers, who knew to what little effect the struggles were 
made, of which, however, the men appeared to have 
no suspicion, though Parry says " they often laughingly 
remarked that ' we were a long time getting to this 
83°.'" This was merely the point assumed, as they 
certainly had no suspicion that on their arrival at that 
point they would have been entitled to one thousand 
pounds.* But, had they known it, they could not have 

* By order in council 
14 5 2 



210 ARCTIC VOYACfEs*. 

labored more earnestly than they did. In their slow 
advance to the northward, the ice became so small that 
a single piece only could be found to place the boats 
upon. On the 26th Parry says, 

"The weather improving toward noon on the 26th, we 
obtained the meridian altitude of the sun, by which we found 
ourselves in latitude 82° 40' 23" ; so that, since our last ob- 
servation (at midnight on the 22d), we had lost by drift no 
less than thirteen miles and a half; for we were now more 
than three miles to the southward of that observation, though 
we had certainly traveled between ten and eleven due north 
in this interval ! Again, we were but one mile to the north 
of our place at noon on the 21st, though we had estimated 
our distance made good at twenty-three miles. Thus it ap- 
peared that for the last five days we had been struggling 
against a southerly drift exceeding four miles a day/' — P. 102. 

It now became obvious that the sea in this latitude 
had assumed a character utterly unfit for the kind of 
navigation, or, rather, of floe-traveling, which had hither- 
to been pursued — in short, that it had become hopeless 
to pursue the journey any farther. 

"It had, for some time past, been too evident that the 
nature of the ice with which we had to contend was such, 
and its drift to the southwaixi, especially with a northerly 
wind, so great, as to put beyond our reach any thing but a 
very moderate share of success in traveling to the northward. 
Still, however, we had been anxious to reach the highest 
latitude which our means would allow, and with this view, 
although our whole object had long become unattainable, 
had pushed on to the northward for thirty-five days, or until 
half our resources were expended, and the middle of our 
season arrived. For the last few clays the eighty -third paral- 
lel was the limit to which we had ventured to extend our 
hopes ; but even this expectation had become considerably 
weakened since the setting in of the last northerly wind, 
which continued to drive us to the southward during the 
necessary hours of rest nearly as much as we could gain by 
eleven or twelve hours of daily labor. Had our success 
been at all proportionate to our exertions, it was my full in- 
tention to have proceeded a few days beyond the middle of 
the period for which we were provided, trusting to the re- 
sources we expected to find at Table Island. But this was 
so far from being the case, that I could not but consider it as 
incurring useless fatigue to the officers and men, and unneces- 
sary wear and tear for the hnyts. to persevere any longpv ih 



parry's polar voyage. 211 

the attempt. I determined, therefore, on giving the people 
one entire day's rest, which they very much needed, and 
time to wash and mend their clothes, while the officers were 
occupied in making all the observations which might be in- 
teresting in this latitude ; and then to set out on our return on 
the following day. Having communicated my intentions to 
the people, who were all much disappointed in finding how 
little their labors had effected, we set about our respective 
occupations, and were much favored by a remarkably fine 
day."— P. 102, 104. 

In fact, the commander of the expedition, the officers 
and men, had all of them been laboriously and uselessly 
employed for thirty-five days of continuous and most 
fatiguing drudgery, to be compared in its effect to noth- 
ing less than the labor of rolling the stone of Sisyphus, 
the floe on which they were traversing, as they suppos- 
ed, ten or twelve miles one day, having rolled them 
back again ten or twelve miles, and often more, the next. 

The farthest point of latitude reached was on the 23d, 
and probably was to 82° 45' ; that of their return, 82° 
40' 23", and long. 19° 25' east. The day was one of 
the warmest and most pleasant they yet had experi- 
enced upon the ice; the thermometer only from 31° to 
36° in the shade, and 37° in the sun ; no bottom with 
500 fathoms of line. 

" At the extreme point of our journey our distance from 
the Hecla was only one hundred and seventy-two miles in a 
S. 8° W. direction. To accomplish this distance we had 
traversed, by our reckoning, two hundred and ninety-two 
miles, of which about one hundred were performed by water 
previously to our entering the ice. As we traveled by far the 
greater part of our distance on the ice three, and not unfre- 
quently five, times over, we may safely multiply the length 
of the road by two and a half; so that our w T hole distance, on 
a very moderate calculation, amounted to five hundred and 
eighty geographical, or six hundred and sixty-eight statute 
miles, being nearly sufficient to have reached the Pole in a 
direct line. Up to this period we had been particularly for- 
tunate in the preservation of our health ; neither sickness nor 
casualties having occurred among us, with the exception of 
the trifling accidents already mentioned, a few bowel com- 
plaints, which were soon removed by care, and some rather 
troublesome cases of chilblains, arising from our constant ex- 
posure to wet and cold." — P. 104, 105. 

On this day of rest from their labors, Parry says, 



212 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

" Our ensigns and pendants were displayed during the 
day ; and severely as we regretted not having been able to 
hoist the British flag in the highest latitude to which we had 
aspired, we shall perhaps be excused iu having felt some 
little pride in being the bearers of it to a parallel considera- 
bly beyond that mentioned in any other well-authenticated 
record." 

On the 27th they set out on their return to the south- 
ward, and, says Parry, "I can safely say that, dreary 
and cheerless as were the scenes we were about to 
leave, we never turned homeward with so little satisfac- 
tion as on this occasion." No man nor body of men are 
chargeable with blame for not' accomplishing impossibil- 
ities : the party in question have done more than had 
ever been done at any time, or more probably than will 
ever be done again on the same plan ; it is much to say 
that they succeeded, in advancing toward the Pole of 
the earth, to a point which no human being before them 
had ever reached, and after a cheerful and patient en- 
durance of laborious drudgery, which, it is to be hoped, 
no human being will ever hereafter be induced to repeat. 

It will not be necessary to follow our voyagers on 
their return ; the permanency of the southern current, 
for so it would seem, afforded them the satisfaction of 
feeling that whatever length of journey they made to the 
northward would be so mucl%gain, and no back-sliding ; 
every mile would tell ; they had, moreover, the advan- 
tage which is noticed by Parry, of getting rid of the 
glare from the snow, on account of the lowness of the 
sun at night, as also the comfortable change when look- 
ing out for the road ; and had the sun behind them, in- 
stead of facing it, as on the outward journey. Nothing 
very remarkable occurred on their return. A quantity 
of snow was met with, tinged to the depth of several 
inches with some red coloring matter : this red snow 
occurred in two or three spots, some of which they bot- 
tled, and found, on examination in England by Sir Will- 
iam Hooker, as former specimens were, to be the Pal- 
metto, nivalis, one of the Alga?, and which, long before, 
Bauer had pronounced to be Uredo nivalis. 

"A fat she-bear crossed over a lane of water to visit us, 
and approaching the boats within twenty yards, was killed 
by Lieut. Ross. The scene which followed was laughable 



parry's polar voyage. 213 

Given to us who participated in it. Before the animal had 
done biting the snow, one of the men was alongside of her 
with an open knife, and being -asked what he was about to 
do, replied, that he was going to cut out the heart and liver, 
to put into the pot which happened to be then boiling for our 
supper. In short, before the bear had been dead an hour, 
all hands of us were employed, to our great satisfaction, in 
discussing the merits not only of the said heart and liver, but 
a pound per man of the flesh ; besides which, some or other 
of the men were constantly frying steaks during the whole 
day, over a large fire made of the blubber." — P. 114. 

The consequence of thus gormandizing on fat bear's 
flesh was obvious. Devoured as it was with such avid- 
ity by the men, some of them complained for several 
days of pains such as usually arise from indigestion, 
" though they all," says Parry, " amusingly enough, 
attributed this effect to the quality, and not the quantity 
of meat they had eaten." On the 8th of August they 
hauled up the boats only once, and had made, though by 
a winding channel, four or five miles of southing. " This 
was so unusual a circumstance, that we could not help 
entertaining some hope of our being at no great distance 
from the open sea, which seemed the more probable, 
from our having seen seven or eight narwhals, and not 
less than two hundred rotges, a flock of these little birds 
occurring in every hole of water." On the 10th a strong 
southerly wind, that hafl blown from that quarter for 
the last thirty hours, had blown them back to the north- 
ward only four miles, which it is said " afforded a last 
and strikiug proof of the general tendency of the ice to 
drift southward about the meridians on which we had 
been traveling." Arrived at 81° 30', the sea was found 
to be crowded with shrimps and other sea-insects, prin- 
cipally the Clio Borealis and Argonauta Arctica, on 
which numerous birds were feeding. This was the 
11th of August, on the morning of which the first sound 
of the swell was heard under the hollow margins of the 
ice, and in a quarter of an hour we reached the open 
sea, which was dashing with heavy surges against the 
outer masses. " We hauled our boats," says Parry, 
" upon one of these, to eat our last meal upon the ice." 
They were now fifty miles distant from Table Island, 
which they reached about noon, and found that the bears 



214 ARCTIG VOYAGES. 

had devoured all the bread, which occasioned a remark 
among the men that " Bruin was only square with us." 
Captain Parry's observation on finally quitting the ice, 
after taking up his abode upon it for forty-eight days, 
was, " I can not describe the comfort we experienced in 
once more feeling a dry and solid footing." Of the for- 
ty-eight days, thirty-three were passed on the outward, 
and fifteen on the return voyage ; such is the difference 
between going with the stream and against it. 

Table Island, however, afforded no place for the men 
to rest. So rugged and inhospitable is this northern 
rock, that not a single spot was found where the boats 
could be hauled up. To the islet lying off Table Island, 
which, Parry says, "is interesting, as being the north- 
ernmost known land upon the globe, I have applied the 
name of Lieutenant Ross in the chart ; adding, " for I 
believe no individual can have exerted himself more 
strenuously to rob it of this distinction." Any thing that 
confers a distinction on the name of James Ross is wor- 
thy of recording, and such is the following passage from 
Sir William Hooker on the "Botany:" "Those spe- 
cies that were gathered in Ross's Islet are peculiarly in- 
teresting, from the circumstance of that island constitu- 
ting the most northern known land in the world." The 
plants named are, Bryum — Hypnum (two species)— 
Tricostomum — Polytrichum — Jungermannia — Gyro- 
phora (Rocktripe, two species) — Cetraria — Cenomyce 
(Reindeer grass, two species) — Stercoiolon — Sphaero- 
phoron — Alectoria — Cornicularia — Ulva — Philota. 

It was not till the 21st of August that they arrived on 
board the Hecla, after an absence of sixty-one days, 
" being received," says Parry, " with that warm and 
cordial welcome which can alone be felt and not describ- 
ed." Thus ended at Spitzbergen this novel and peril- 
ous expedition, of which, though the object was not ac- 
complished, every officer and man employed in it may 
be proud. Thus far Parry concludes his narrative : 

" The distance traversed during this excursion was five 
hundred and sixty-nine geographical miles; but allowing for 
the number of times we had to return for our baggage during 
the greater part of the journeys over the ice, we estimated 
our actual traveling at nine hundred and seventy-eight geo- 



parry's polar voyage. 215 

graphical, or eleven hundred and twenty -seven statute miles. 
Considering our constant exposure to wet, cold, and fatigue, 
our stockings having generally been drenched in snow-water 
for twelve hours out of every four-and-twenty, I had great 
reason to be thankful for the excellent health in which, upon 
the whole, we reached the ship. There is no doubt that we 
had all become, in a certain degree, gradually weaker for 
some time past; but only three men of our party now re 
quired medical care, two of them with badly swelled legs 
and general debility, and the other from a bruise ; but even 
these three returned to their duty in a short time. 

" I can not conclude the account of our proceedings without 
endeavoring to do justice to the cheerful alacrity and unwea- 
ried zeal displayed by my companions, both officers and men. 
hi the course of this excursion; and if steady perseverance 
and active exertion on their parts coidd have accomplished 
our object, success would undoubtedly have crowned our la- 
bors. I must also mention, to the credit of the officers of 
Woolwich Dockyard, who took so much pains in the con- 
struction of our boats, that notwithstanding the constant and 
severe trial to which their strength had been put — and a more 
severe trial could not well be devised — not a timber was 
sprung, a plank split, or the smallest injury sustained by them ; 
they were, indeed, as tight and as fit for sendee when we 
reached the ship, as when they were first received on board, 
and in every respect answered the intended purpose admira- 
bly."*— P. 128, 129. 

Captain Parry gives all due credit for the diligent and 
active manner in which Lieutenants Foster and Crozier 
fulfilled their instructions during his absence, and for the 
complete state in which he found the Hecla on his re- 
turn — the various observations interesting to science 
sedulously performed, specimens of natural history care- 
fully collected and preserved, and all the duties of the 
ship earned on to his perfect satisfaction. Many inter- 
esting observations were made on the inclination, dip, 
and intensity of the magnetic needle. " Among other 
magnetical observations," says Parry, " an interesting 
series of hourly experiments had been made on the di- 
urnal changes of variation and intensity, and continued 
for several days without interruption, by the two lieu- 
tenants." From these it appears that a diurnal oscilla- 
lion of the magnetic needle takes place, usually amount- 

;; A well-deserved compliment to the artificers of that yard, and to 
their able master-shipwright. Mr. Oliver Lang. 



216 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

ing to Etbour a degree and a half, and in some instances 
to 2|°, the maximum variation being about 4 h 22' P.M. 
The change of intensity giving an increased action was 
about 10 h 20' A.M., and minimum intensity about mid- 
night. 

The animals met with on the shores of Treurenburg 
Bay and of Way gat Strait were of the same kind, but 
less plentiful than those on the west coast of Spitzbergen ; 
they consisted chiefly of sea-horses, narwhals, and white 
whales, but no black ones ; the more common animals 
were principally reindeer, bears, foxes, glaucous and 
ivory gulls, tern, eider ducks, and grouse. Seventy 
reindeer were killed, chiefly small, and until the middle 
of August not in good condition ; they were met with in 
herds, from six or eight to twenty. Thre e bears were 
killed, one of which was of more than ore inary dimen- 
sions, measuring eight feet four inches fi jm the snout 
to the root of the tail. 

The boat expedition was less fortunate with regard 
to animals ; few living creatures were seen, and these 
mostly gulls, and one insect found on a piece of ice, and 
it was a dead Aphis. It has a chapter to itself in the 
Appendix, headed Insect. Parry says, " I am indebted 
to the friendship of Mr. J. Curtis for the following de- 
scription of the only insect that was obtained during the 
voyage." The description gives no intelligible informa- 
tion, only that it resembles another species called A. 
picea. " The circumstance of the Aphis borealis hav- 
ing been found on floating floes of ice on the Polar Sea. 
at one hundred miles distance from the nearest known 
land, and as far north as 82|°, renders it in a more than 
ordinary degree interesting. As the one it resembles 
feeds on the silver fir, so it is supposed that the floating- 
trees of fir that are to be found so abundantly on the 
shores and to the northward of Spitzbergen might pos- 
sibly be the means by which this insect has been trans- 
ported to the northern regions." Perhaps so ; but it 
may be asked, By what possible means were the firs 
thus transported 1 

Sir Edward Pariy, at the conclusion of his narrative, 
after observing that the object is of more difficult attain- 
ment than was before supposed, even by those persons 



parry's polar voyage. 217 

who were the best qualified to judge of it, is still of 
opinion that, after much consideration, and some expe- 
rience of the various difficulties which belong to it, he 
can not recommend any material improvement in the 
plan lately adopted. With all deference to the opinion 
of so distinguished a sea-officer, in possession of so much 
experience as Sir Edward Parry, there are others who 
express dislike of such a plan ; and it is not improbable 
that many of his readers will be disposed to come to the 
conclusion that, so long as the Greenland Seas are ham- 
pered with ice — so long as floes, and hommocs, and 
heavy masses continue to be formed — so long as a de- 
termined southerly current prevails, so long will any at- 
tempt to carry out the plan in question in like manner 
fail. No laborious drudgery will ever be able to conquer 
the opposing progress of the current and the ice. Be- 
sides, it can hardly be doubted that this gallant officer 
will admit, on farther consideration, that this unusual 
kind of disgusting and unseaman-like labor is not pre- 
cisely such as would be relished by the men, and it may 
be said, is not exactly fitted for a British man-of-war's 
man ; moreover, that it required his own all-powerful 
example to make it even tolerable. 

The narrative having thus far advanced, a conversa- 
tion with Sir Edward Parry prepared the writer in 
some degree for the following letter : 

"Admiralty, 25th Nov. , 1845. 

" My dear Sir John, — Understanding that you are prepar- 
ing an account of the proceedings of all the expeditions by 
sea and land which have been engaged in Arctic discovery 
in our own times, I venture to trouble you with my present 
views as to the practicability of reaching the North Pole over 
the ice, to which you may possibly make allusion in the course 
of the interesting narratives which you have undertaken. 

" It is evident that the causes of failure in our former at- 
tempt ha the year 1827 were principally two : first and chief- 
ly, the broken, rugged, and soft state of the surface of the ice 
over which we traveled ; and, secondly, the drifting of the 
whole body of ice in a southerly direction. On mature re- 
consideration of all the circumstances attending this enter- 
prise, I am induced to alter the opinion I gave as to its prac 
ticability in my Journal, p. 144, because I believe it to be an 
object of no very difficult attainment, if set about in a differ- 
ent manner. My plan is, to go out with a single ship to Spitz- 



21B ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

bergen, just as we did in the Hecla, but not so early in the 
season, the object for that year being merely to find secure 
winter quarters as far north as possible. For this purpose, it 
would only be necessary to reach Hakluyt's Headland by the 
end of June, which would afford ample leisure for examining 
the more northern lands, especially about the Seven Islands, 
where, in all probability, a secure nook might be found for 
the ship, and a starting-point for the proposed expedition 
some forty or fifty miles in advance of the point where the 
Hecla was before laid up. The winter might be usefully em- 
ployed in various preparations for the journey, as well as in 
magnetic, astronomical, and meteorological observations of 
high interest in that latitude. I propose that the expedition 
should leave the ship in the course of the month of April, 
when the ice would present one hard and unbroken surface, 
over which, as I confidently believe, it would not be difficult 
to make good thirty miles per day without any exposure to 
wet, and probably without snow-blindness. At this season, 
too, the ice would probably be stationary, and thu3 the two 
great difficulties which we formerly had to encounter would 
be entirely obviated. It might form a part of the plan to push 
out supplies in advance to the distance of one hundred miles, 
to be taken up on the "way, so as to commence the journey 
comparatively light ; and as the intention would be to com- 
plete the enterprise in the course of the month of May, before 
any disruption of the ice or any material softening of the sur- 
face had taken place, similar supplies might be sent out to the 
same distance, to meet the party on their return. 

" It might, farther, be worth while to take reindeer from 
Hammerfest in passing, with the chance of keeping them alive 
during the winter on such farinaceous food as the provision 
of the ship could furnish. 

" I will only add, that this plan might be accomplished 
without the ship incurring any material risk, since the naviga- 
tion both out and home need only be performed at a season 
when the sea is very little encumbered with ice ; and, more- 
over, an opportunity would be afforded during two seasons of 
stretching far to the northward in the ship, if the state of the 
ice should prove favorable. I remain, yours, &c, 

" W. Parry." 

" Sir John BaiTOw, Bart." 

The plan here described is no doubt an improvement 
over the one that failed ; but without presuming too 
much, not being altogether unacquainted with a ship's 
navigating among what is called sailing-ice, it -amy be 
allowable to suggest another and a different plan, and 



parry's polar voyage. 219 

perhaps, on the whoie, less objectionable. It would 
consist of two small ships similar to those which, after 
three years' service in the Antarctic Seas, are now en- 
gaged in the ice of the North Polar Seas ; they should 
be sent in the early spring along the western coast of 
Spitzbergen, where usually no impediment exists, as 
far up as 80° ; take every opportunity of proceeding 
directly to the north, where, about 82°, Parry has told 
us, the large floes had disappeared, and the sea there 
was found to be loaded only with loose, disconnected, 
small masses of ice, through which ships would find no 
difficulty in sailing, though totally unfit for boats drag- 
ging ; and as this loose ice was drifting to the south- 
ward, he farther says, that before the middle of August 
a ship might have sailed up to the latitude of 82° almost 
without touching a piece of ice. It is not, then, unreas- 
onable to expect, that beyond that parallel, even as far 
as the Pole itself, the sea would be free of ice during 
the six summer months of perpetual sun through each 
of the twenty -four hours, which, with the aid of the 
current, would in all probability destroy and dissipate 
the Polar ice. 

If, then, on the return of Sir John Franklin's ships, 
the screw-propeller supplied to each should have been 
found to answer, a fair opportunity would be afforded of 
deciding the question. The trial would soon be made, 
and, from the experience of Parry, would be made 
without danger of loss to ships or men, for it is probable 
they would not have any ice-bound shores to contend 
with. The distance froin Hakluyt's Headland to the 
Pole is 600 geographical miles. Granting the ships to 
make only twenty miles in twenty-four hours (on the 
supposition of much sailing-ice to go through), even in 
that case it would require but a month to enable the 
explorer to put his foot on the pivot or point of the axis 
on which the globe of the earth turns ; remain there a 
month, if necessary, to obtain the sought-for informa- 
tion, and then, with a southerly current, a fortnight, 
probably less, would bring him back to Spitzbergen. 

To such as may venture to raise their feeble objec- 
tions against this, and other daring enterprises if not 
attended with the prospect of probable profit, let them 



220 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

receive the answer given by that brave old navigator, 
Sir Martin Frobisher, when attempts were made by his 
friends to dissuade him from engaging in the discovery 
of a northwest passage : "It is the only thing in the 
world that is left yet undone whereby a notable mind 
might be made famous and fortunate." We may still 
say, " The North Pole is the only thing in the world 
about which we know nothing; and that want of all 
knowledge ought to operate . as a spur to adopt the 
means of wiping away that stain of ignorance from this 
enlightened age." 

But there are others besides utilitarians that make 
objections to inquiries of this nature, on the score of 
religious prejudices, and will say that God never intend- 
ed us to scrutinize places against which He had set his 
barrier. Thus the Rev. Lewis Way, the wealthy pro- 
prietor of Stansted, and so stanch an advocate for the 
conversion of the Jews that he made a pilgrimage to 
Jerusalem with that object in view — this reverend gen- 
tleman one day said to a friend, " I know Sir Joseph 
Banks very well, and he was a good friend of mine, 
though he used to joke with me sometimes about my 
endeavor to convert the Jews ; but I told him that my 
scheme was, at any rate, a much wiser one than his * 
he was trying to send ships to the North Pole, which 
it was clear God never intended, while the conversion of 
the Jews was an event which we all know was to be 
brought about some time or other." 

This may be looked upon, as doubtless Sir Joseph 
Banks looked upon it, as sheer nonsense. Every in- 
telligent mind must be satisfied that, the more closely 
we investigate the works of creation, the more, as ra- 
tional beings, we must be convinced that nothing therein 
has been made in vain, nor without a preconceived and 
settled design, the finished work of a. beneficent and 
Almighty Power ; and if Mr. Lewis Way had recol- 
lected a passage in the most ancient record of his favor- 
ite Jews, he would recollect his having found therein 
that God gave to man " dominion over all the earth," 
and made no exception of the North Pole. 

The Royal Society, however, and the Commissioners 
of Longitude, were less scrupulous on the subject. To 



parry's polar voyage. 221 

encourage a visit to the North Pole, they recommended 
to his majesty in council to pass an order granting the 
payment of a reward of five thousand pounds to the 
first ship that shall approach within one degree of the 
North Pole. This order is not to be considered as 
merely an inducement for making the attempt, but 
chiefly to manifest their opinion of the value of the 
scheme. It is pretty well understood that British naval 
officers, who, like Parry, Franklin, and others, embark 
on arduous and hazardous enterprises of this nature, 
are influenced not so much by motives of pecuniary 
rewards as by the hope of contributing, by their exer- 
tions, to the enlargement of knowledge and science ; 
their additional object, and that a laudable one, being the 
acquirement of present reputation and future fame. 

* Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise 
(That last infirmity of noble minds) 
To scorn delights and live laborious days." 

Dr. Johnson said that the man who had seen the 
great wall of China might be considered as shedding a 
luster on his grand-children. But what is the wall of 
China? which has not only been seen by Lord Macart- 
ney and his party, but scaled, and its broad parapet trod- 
den on, by them. With how much more brilliant a 
luster would this great moralist have decorated the 
descendants of that man who had stood on the pivot 
whereon this globe of ours forever turns, and hoisted 
the British flag on the most remarkable spot on the 
earth's surface? The wall of China may be seen any 
day; and any one, without the least difficulty, might 
obtain a view of it by a trip in one of our yachts to the 
Gulf of Leatung, into which it descends and terminates. 

To describe what a visitor to the Pole might obtain in 
the way of science, it can only be said, in our present 
state of ignorance, that the whole field would be open to 
him ; every thing would be novel, and that alone would 
rouse his attentive faculties. Est hominum natura novi- 
tatis avida. The difficulties that would occur may be 
appreciated at home, but they will be greater or less ac- 
cording to circumstances, of which we yet know noth- 
ing ; that is, whether the Pole be covered with an open 
sea, an icy sea, or by land ; and which of the three would 
T 2 



222 - ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

create the greatest difficulties in the way of acquiring 
information ? In all respects an open sea would appear 
to be the most disadvantageous. In the first place, it 
would, in all probability, be so deep that the ship could 
not anchor, or deep enough not to admit of her keeping 
steadily her place for making accurate observations ; in 
the next, by her moving about, her commander would 
very speedily find out that, as every meridian must lie 
in the direction of south, he had lost that on which he 
had approached the Pole, and, consequently, would be 
at a loss to shape his course homeward. The settling 
of this point will naturally suggest itself as first among 
the many novel phenomena which will arrest his atten- 
tion, and the following observations will probably occur 
to him. 

In the first place, it will be obvious that the time of 
day — or, rather, of the twenty-four hours — would no 
longer be marked by any apparent change in the altitude 
of the sun above the horizon, because, to an observer at 
the Pole, no such change would take place, except to 
the small amount of the daily change of declination. 
Thus, not only to the eye, but also for the practical pur- 
pose of obtaining the time by astronomical observation, 
the sun would appear throughout the twenty-four hours 
neither to rise nor fall, but to describe a circle round the 
heavens parallel to the horizon. It follows that this 
mode of obtaining the time would utterly fail ; and, in- 
deed, however startling the fact may seem, it may nev- 
ertheless be asserted with truth, that there would no 
longer be any such thing, strictly speaking, as apparent 
time at all. This will appear clear by considering that 
apparent time refers only to the particular meridian on 
which an observer happens to be placed, and is marked 
and determined only by the distance of the sun or other 
heavenly body from that meridian. An observer at the 
Pole being on no one meridian, but at the point where 
all meridians meet, apparent time has to him no longer 
either existence or meaning. 

Before our navigators entered upon this expedition, 
their attention was naturally directed to the best, and, 
indeed, only certain method of insuring their return from 
the Pole on the right meridian. Two methods, and, 



PARRY S POLAR VOYAGE. 223 

we believe, only two, present themselves for this pur- 
pose ; the one being by the compass, the other by means 
of chronometers. From the observations already made 
in the Arctic regions, it may be considered, as certain 
that, at the Pole, the magnetic needle would freely trav- 
erse, and. the compass remain an efficient practical in- 
strument ; for as it is to the magnetic pole, and not to 
the pole of the earth, that the needle is directed, and as 
the dip of the needle only amounts to 82° 22' at the most 
northerly point yet reached, it is probable that the hor- 
izontal or directive force of the needle would continue 
strong and efficient at the Pole, and, consequently, that 
the magnetic bearing of any point on the globe might be 
accurately obtained by it. Indeed, none of the singular 
phenomena relating to the magnetic needle observed by 
Parry on his former voyage through Barrow's Strait, 
such as the north end of the needle pointing due south, 
and then southeast, and the entire uselessness of the 
compasses, owing to the iron in the ship proving stron- 
ger than the directive power of the needle, were to be 
anticipated on reaching the-pole of the earth. For the 
same reason, it was not to be expected that the achieve- 
ment since performed by his gallant companion, James 
Hoss, of actually planting the British flag on the magnet- 
ic Pole, could now be accomplished, as it was already 
known that the point upon the earth's surface which is 
so designated lay in a much lower latitude. 

The other method of insuring the return of our trav- 
elers upon the right meridian, namely, by means of 
chronometers, was one which required some considera- 
tion. It is obvious that, to an observer standing upon the 
Pole, the sun would, at the precise moment of apparent 
noon at any given place, appear to the observer exactly 
in the direction of that place, and that consequently this, 
as ascertained by chronometers, would prove an uner- 
ring guide as to the right direction. But in the ordina- 
ry mode of marking the dial-plates of watches, from one 
hour to twelve only, there was reason to apprehend that 
the wrong twelve o'clock might be taken, under circum- 
stances of constant sunshine, and without any change in 
the altitude of that luminary to distinguish day from 
night. Ti avoid the possibility of this mistake, the pre- 



224 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

caution w s taken of constructing chronometers (each 
officer ca' tying one in his pocket) having the dial-plates 
marked vv th twenty -four hours, and the hour-hand mak- 
ing only one revolution in that period. Thus, whenever 
the chronometers indicated apparent noon at Greenwich, 
the sun would be exactly over the meridian of that place, 
and so of any other place of known longitude ; for in- 
stance, the harbor where our travelers had left their 
ship, and to which they desired to return. 

In visiting a part of the globe on which the foot of 
man has never before trodden, it is impossible to say 
what benefits may accrue to science ; but in the enter- 
prise to which we are now alluding, there is one object 
of the very highest scientific interest which might be at- 
tained by traveling to the Pole, namely, the measure- 
ment of a degree of the meridian commencing from the 
Pole itself. Many readers of this narrative are aware 
that the form of the globe has long since been ascertain- 
ed to be that of an oblate spheroid, having its equatorial 
diameter considerably longer than the polar; in more 
popular language, that the earth is flattened at the poles ; 
but it still remains a matter of doubt in what degree 
this flattening exists ; and as no method of ascertaining 
this is so conclusive as the actual measurement of a me- 
ridian at the Pole and at the Equator, this object alone 
would well repay any effort that might be made to effect 
it ; even if a sufficient length of line could be measured 
in one of the meridians that are clustered on the Pole, 
the difficulty of preserving it would require the most 
rigid attention. 

The swinging of a pendulum is perhaps a less accu- 
rate method of obtaining the eliipticity of the earth, but 
it is the operation of a single person, whereas the actual 
measurement of the meridian line requires several ; and 
as an increase of gravitation takes place from the Equa- 
tor to the Pole, the latter makes it most desirable that 
the requisite observations should be made there, or as 
near to it as possible ; but a ship on an open or icy sea 
would not answer.* 

The tides at the Pole would be an interesting subject 

* The reader is referrred to the several portions of this volume for the 
pendulum observations that have been made and herein given. 



fcARRY S POLAR VOYAGE. *225 

to examine ; but it does not appear that any contrivance 
on an open sea, or a sea of ice, could be made use of to 
ascertain the rise and fall. 

Magnetism, atmospherical electricity, and the Aurora 
Polaris, and all other meteorological observations, would 
afford scope enough on board ship. 

Should land, however small the portion, be found at 
or near the Pole, all the various observations would be 
conducted to a successful issue. It may be presumed 
that any such land will not be mountainous, as no ice- 
bergs are ever sent down from that quarter, these mass- 
es having been ascertained as products of glaciers on the 
sides and valleys of high mountains, as in Spitzbergen 
and Greenland. On a piece of land the pendulum may 
be swung, and the rise, fall, and direction of the tides 
observed. It would also be interesting to examine into 
the nature of the soil, and its vegetable productions ; the 
disposition of the strata, and the mineral products, if any ; 
and if the land be of a tolerable extent, a meridional dis- 
tance may be measured. Other matters of interest and 
novelty would occur to a scientific and skillful observer. 
These are mere speculations, thrown out at random, but 
may serve, among other suggestions, as objects of atten- 
tion. 

Captain Sir Edward Parry having now concluded his 
fifth voyage into the Arctic regions, in four of which he 
commanded, and was second in the other, and there be- 
ing no farther attempt in contemplation at the conclusion 
of the last voyage to continue the search, he deemed it 
expedient to close his honorable and useful naval career, 
at least in sea-going ships. It may, therefore, not be out 
of place here to put on record a memorandum of the 
valuable services rendered to his country in yarious sit- 
uations, and to the navy in particular, with whose inter- 
ests he is still connected. 

It has been stated, in the first Arctic voyage, in what 
manner he was introduced into that line of service, by 
being selected to command one of the discovery ships. 

1818. The Alexander, as lieutenant commanding, being sec- 

ond to Commander Ross. 

1819. The Hecla. — Appointed as lieutenant to command her, 

and as commander of the expedition : two years. 



226 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

1820. The Fury. — Appointed as commander, and to the com" 
rtiand of the expedition; advanced to the rank of 
captain in November, 1821. 

1823. Acting hydrographer to the Admiralty ^ 1823, in the 

room of Captain Hurd, deceased. 

1824. Hecla, — Appointed as captain (though only a sloop) 

and as commander of the expedition. 
Acting hydrographer, second appointment, the va- 
cancy not having been filled up. 

1826. Appointed to the command of the Hecla, and of the 

expedition toward the North Pole. 

1827. Third appointment as hydrographer, and continued to 

act until May,. 1829 : and in the same year received 
the honor of knighthood. Resigned the situation of 
hydrographer, and Captain Beaufort appointed, who* 
still holds it. 
1829. Went out to New South Wales as Commissioner to 
the Australian Agricultural Company, by permission 
of the Admiralty, and returned in November, 1834. 
1835. Assistant Poor-law Commissioner in Norfolk ; but his 

health failing, laid by for one year. 
1837. Appointed to organize the Packet Service, then trans- 
ferred to the Admiralty. 
1837. Appointed Controller of Steam Machinery, in which 
important situation he still remains ; a situation that 
requires all that talent and assiduous attention which 
he is known to possess, and which it is to be hoped 
he may long continue to hold, to his own satisfaction, 
and for the benefit of the public service. 
The character and conduct of Sir Edward Parry as a 
captain in command of a ship of war has been fully ex- 
hibited in the present narrative, abridged as it is : prompt 
in difficulty, cool in danger, fertile in expedients, and 
rich in resources, he was never unprepared in the hour 
of need ; to the people under his charge he was kind, 
considerate, and attentive, and while rigidly exacting the 
performance of their duties, was ever studious to admin- 
ister to their comforts and their welfare, instructing them 
that these benefits could only be acquired and preserved 
by a strict obedience to command, steady good conduct, 
and due regard to the duties of religion. 

If an officer who has accompanied Captain Parry in 
all his Arctic and Polar voyages were passed over in si- 
lence, it would properly be considered as a dereliction of 
justice and of duty in the writer of this narrative. The 



PARRY S POLAR VOYAGE. 227 

following memorandum of Captain Sir James Ross's ser- 
vices will put the reader in possession of an abstract of 
what he has performed : 

In April, 1812, he entered the navy. 

f Volunteer first class, midshipman, and mate with Com- 

, ., „ £ mander Ross, 
loi/. j 

1818. Admiralty midshipman in the Isabella hi Commander 

Ross's voyage of discovery to the Arctic Seas. 

1819, ? Admiralty midshipman in the Hecla hi Captain Par- 

1820. 5 ry' 8 h rst v °y a g e of discovery to the Arctic Seas. 

1821, ) Admiralty midshipman in the Fury in Captain Parry's 

1822, > second voyage of discovery to the Arctic Seas ; was 

1823. ) made lieutenant, 26th December, 1822. 

o ( Lieutenant in the Fury, Captain Hoppner, third voy- 

tqo^A a o e °f Captain Parry. To draw charts and make 

18 ~ 5 -^ drawings. 

1827. First lieutenant in the Hecla, Captain Parry; accom- 
panied him in command of the second boat hi his 
-attempt to reach the North Pole. Promoted on 
his return, 8th November, 1827. 

1829 )In private steam-vessel Victory. 
to >On the 1st of June, 1831, planted the Union-jack ou 

1833.) the North Magnetic Pole. On his return, presented 
by the College of Arms with an addition to the arms 
of Ross, representing the flag flying on the Mag- 
netic Pole, with additional crest, " on a rock, a 
flag-staff erect, thereon hoisted the Union-jack, in- 
scribed with the date, 1st June, 1831." 

1834. Promoted to the rank of captain, 28th October, 1834. 

1835. Employed making magnetic observations preparatory 

to commencing the magnetic survey of England. 

1836. Captain hi the ship commissioned by the Admiralty, 

sent in search of the missing whalers, in the depth 
of winter.* 

1837. > Employed, at the desire of the Lords Commissioners 
3838. 5 °f tne Admiralty, in determining the variation of 

the compass on all parts of the coast of Great Brit- 

* On a representation from Hull that eleven whale ships and six hun- 
dred men were left in the ice and in danger of perishing, and requesting 
the Admiralty to send out relief, Captain James Ross volunteered to go 
out in the depth of winter, and the three lieutenants, Crozier, Trim an, and 
Ommanney, with the three mates, Jesse, Buchan, and John. Smith, and 
Mr.Hallett, clerk in charge, volunteered to join him. He hoisted his pen- 
nant on the 21st of December, and after a stormy voyage arrived in Da- 
vis's Strait, when he found nine of the missing ships were by that time in 
England, that the tenth was released find on her passage, and the elev- 
enth was probably lost, as some of Iv-r "asks had been picked up at sea. 



228 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

ain, and the general magnetic survey for determin* 
ing duration of the time of equal variation, dip, and 
intensity, in conjunction with Professor Lloyd, Col- 
onel Sabine, and Professor Phillips, at the request 
of the British Association. 
And lastly, from 1839 to 1843, Captain H. M. S. Ere- 
bus, in command of the Antarctic Expedition. 
13th March, 1844, received the honor of knighthood. 
20th June, 1844, Hon. D. C. L., Oxford. 
Received gold medals of Geographical Societies of 
England and of France. 
It will be seen that Mr. James (now Sir James) Ross 
has risen by regular gradation from the lowest to the 
highest rank in his profession, and to the honors he now 
enjoys, by his indefatigable zeal, self-taught abilities, and 
diligence. It is due to him, therefore, in taking leave 
of his Arctic labors, at the same time with his friend and 
commanding officer Sir Edward Parry, to express a con- 
viction, in common with that of his brother officers and 
associates, that few men possess, in a more eminent de- 
gree, the qualities required in most arduous attempts. 
To a strong and vigorous constitution, and bodily pow- 
ers of no ordinary kind, James Ross unites an ardent love 
of enterprise, a determined perseverance in the attain- 
ment of his object, and a mind undaunted by difficulty 
or danger. To these qualities must be added that ad- 
vancement in navigation, astronomy, natural history, and 
other branches of science which few naval officers can 
boast of, but which were such as fitted him peculiarly for 
selection to the command of the recent Antarctic Expe- 
dition, for the results of which, from his pen, public ex- 
pectation is- more than usually alive. 



CAPTAIN JOHN FRANKLIN. 229 



CHAPTER X. 
CAPTAIN JOHN FRANKLIN. 

1819-20-21-22. 



Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea. By 
John Franklin, Capt. R. N., F. R. S., Commander of the 
Expedition. 

This expedition, under the command of Commander 
(now Captain Sir John) Franklin, has not only added 
greatly to the geography, geology, and natural history 
of that portion of the northern coast of North America 
within the Arctic regions, but more especially to that 
which borders on the southern shores of the Polar Sea: 
and has also contributed largely to, and firmly establish- 
ed, that estimate of the physical, mental, and moral 
character of British seamen — equally good when serv- 
ing on shore as afloat — which we Englishmen had long 
formed, and of which we are justly proud. It has also 
supplied traits of character, and of the physical consti- 
tution of the various native tribes. 

" The narrative of Captain Franklin" (the writer is here 
borrowing from himself) " adds another to the many splendid 
records of the enterprise, zeal, and energy of British seamen 
— of that cool and intrepid conduct which never forsakes 
them on occasions the most trying — that unshaken constancy 
and perseverance in situations the most arduous, the most 
distressing, and sometimes the most hopeless that can befall 
human beings ; and it furnishes a beautiful example of the 
triumph of mental and moral energy over mere brute strength, 
in the simple fact that out of fifteen individuals inured from 
their birth to cold, fatigue, and hunger, no less than ten 
(native landsmen) were so subdued by the aggravation of 
those evils to which they had beea habituated as to give 
themselves up to indifference, insubordination, and despair, 
and, finally, to sink down and die, while of five British sea- 
men unaccustomed to the severity of the climate, and the 
hardships attending it, one only fell, and that one by the 
murderous hand of an assassin. A light, buoyant heart, a. 



230 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

confidence in their own powers, supported by a firm reliance 
on a merciful Providence, never once forsook them, nor suf- 
fered the approach of despondency, but brought them safely 
.through such misery and distress as rarely, if ever, have been 
surmounted." 

The five persons mentioned were Captain John (now 
Sir John) Franklin, at this time commanding an expedi- 
tion, not for attempting the discovery of a northwest 
passage, but to supply the means of facilitating one, and 
to extend the geography of a part of the Polar regions 
very little known ; Doctor Richardson, a naval surgeon, 
now Medical Inspector of the Royal Naval Hospital at 
Haslar : " To Doctor Richardson, in particular," Sir 
John says, "the exclusive merit is due of whatever col- 
lections and observations have been made in the depart- 
ment of natural history ; and I am indebted to him in no 
small degree for his friendly advice and assistance in the 
preparation of the present narrative. The Appendix 
(upward of two hundred and eighty pages) is mostly his 
own." Doctor Richardson volunteered to accompany 
Captain Franklin on his second expedition to the shores 
of the Polar Sea; also Mr. George Back and Mr. Rob- 
ert Hood, Admiralty midshipmen, to make observations, 
drawings of the land, of the natives, and objects of natu- 
ral history, the former of whom is now Captain Sir 
George Back, and the latter was the victim (above allud- 
ed to) of an assassin. The fifth was John Hepburn, a 
true, faithful, and affectionate English seaman, and their 
only attendant, who, on the conclusion of the expedition, 
was deservedly rewarded with a permanent situation in 
one of the dockyards. Of this seaman, the testimony 
of Sir John Franklin is too valuable to be omitted. "And 
here," he says, "I must be permitted to pay the tribute 
due to the fidelity, exertion, and uniform good conduct, 
in the most trying situations, of John Hepburn, an Eng- 
lish seaman, and our only attendant, to whom, in the latter 
part of our journey, we owe, under Divine Providence, 
the preservation of the lives of some of the party."* 

The instructions which Franklin received from Earl 
Bathurst, by whom he was appointed, on the recom- 
mendation of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiral- 

* Introduction. 



FRANKLIN AND MCHARDSOn's JOURNEY. 231 

ty, informed him that the main object of the expedition 
was to explore the northern coast of America, from the 
mouth of the Copper Mine River to the eastward ; to 
lay down the line, or trending, of that coast, as far as to 
the eastern extremity of that- continent ; in short, to take 
all means for obtaining accurate information respecting 
that unknown line of coast. And it is to the credit of 
the then Board of Admiralty for suggesting this expedi- 
tion, which might be of the utmost importance in aiding 
the ships under Commander Parry, which were to pro- 
ceed about the same time for the Polar Sea, and might 
have to touch upon the coast in. question. 

On the 22d of May, 1819, the little party, having re- 
ceived their credentials from the several authorities at 
home, embarked on board the Hudson Bay Company's 
ship Prince of Wales. Contrary winds and foul weath- 
er during the first week obliged the ship to anchor in 
Yarmouth Roads, where the officers and passengers ven- 
tured on shore for a few hours ; but the wind sudden- 
ly changing, the commander caused guns to be fired, as 
an intimation of putting to sea; the passengers forth- 
with embarked, but Mr. Back was missing; no time, 
however, was to be lost, and shortly after the ship sail- 
ed without him, and arrived at Stromness on the 3d of 
June, where business with the Hudson's Bay agent, and 
the difficulty of obtaining four boatmen to assist in the 
navigation of the lakes and rivers of North Ameriea, de- 
tained them till the evening of the 9th, " when we had 
the gratification," says Franklin, " of welcoming our ab- 
sent companion, Mr. Back. His return to our society 
was hailed with sincere pleasure by every one, and re- 
moved a weight of anxiety from my mind. It appears 
he had come down to the beach at Caistor just as the 
ship was passing by, and had applied to some boatmen 
to convey him on board, who, discovering the emergen- 
cy of his ease, demanded an exorbitant reward, which 
he was not at the instant prepared to satisfy, and, in con- 
sequence, they positively refused to assist him. Though 
he had traveled nine successive days, almost without rest, 
he could not be prevailed upon to withdraw from the 
agreeable scene of a ball-room, in which he joined us, 
sin til a late hour," " This untoward circumstance," as 



232 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

Franklin called it at the time, afforded a sample of his 
eagerness and energy, and gave to Back himself a gen- 
tle specimen of what he was doomed thereafter to un- 
dergo with infinitely more severity. 

The incidents of the voyage require not to be related ; 
pleasant enough until they approached that dangerous 
and by all abhorred island, Resolution, in the mouth of 
Hudson's Strait, near the rocky shores of which, usually 
beset with heavy ice, fogs, and irregular currents, the 
vessel narrowly escaped shipwreck. Passing this, how- 
ever, they arrived in safety at York Factory, in Hud- 
son's Bay, on the 30th of August. Here they were cor- 
dially received by the governor and servants of the Hud- 
son's Bay Company, and were furnished by them with 
a boat of the largest size, well stored with provisions and 
ammunition, as much as she could carry. They were 
also furnished with letters to all their agents in the sev- 
eral factories in the country, directing them to give ev- 
ery possible assistance toward furthering the object of 
the expedition. Here also they had the good fortune to> 
meet with several of the partners of the Northwest Com- 
pany, from whom they also received the most friendly 
and full assurance of the cordial endeavors of the winter- 
ing partners of their establishment to promote the inter^- 
est of the expedition. This was the more gratifying, as 
there then existed a violent commercial rivalry between 
the two companies. "With the knowledge of this, and 
with that prudence and propriety of conduct that has at 
all times been the characteristic of Franklin, he deemed 
it expedient to " issue a memorandum to the officers of 
the expedition, strictly prohibiting any interference what- 
ever in the existing quarrels, or any that might arise, be- 
tween the two companies ; and on presenting it to the 
principals of both the parties, they expressed their sat- 
isfaction at the step I had taken." 

On the 9th of September, the boat being completed, 
arrangements were made for their departure, and at noon 
they embarked under a salute of eight guns and three 
cheers, which they gratefully returned, and made all 
sail. The route was settled to be by Cumberland House, 
and through the chain of Posts to the Great Slave Lake. 
It is not deemed necessary to notice the multitude of 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON^ JOURNEY. 233 

lakes, rivers, portages, and the numerous difficulties and 
impediments which beset the traveler throughout his ar- 
duous journey in the northern regions of America, these 
having been so frequently described by various travelers 
since the time of Hearne and Mackenzie. Suffice it to 
say that, from the time of their leaving York Factory 
on the 9th of September, to their arrival at Cumberland 
House on the 22d of October, they had traveled over a 
distance of very nearly seven hundred miles, with and 
against the streams of some ten different rivers and nine 
lakes, to say nothing of rocks, rapids, and portages. The 
charts and views, from the observations and pencils of 
Messrs. Hood and Back, afford a more clear description 
than any written account could convey. The services 
of these two officers in these and other respects were of 
incalculable benefit, and highly spoken of by the com- 
mander of the expedition. 

Nothing could exceed the kindness of the governor of 
Fort Cumberland : he forthwith set about enlarging the 
premises, to make tins then* intended winter quarters as 
convenient and agreeable as possible. But Franklin, af- 
ter many conversations with Governor Williams, and oth- 
er gentlemen in charge of northern posts, was convinced 
of the necessity of proceeding, during the winter, into 
the Athobasca department, to the northward of the Great 
Slave Lake, from whence, only, guides, hunters, and in- 
terpreters were to be procured. He therefore requested 
Governor Williams that he might be furnished, by the 
middle of January, with the means of conveyance for 
three persons, having previously arranged that Messrs. 
Back and Hepburn should accompany him, while Dr. 
Richardson and Mr. Hood should remain till the spring 
at Cumberland House. 

This arrangement was quite consistent with the true 
character of Franklin ; whenever an arduous, severe, or 
inconvenient service was to be performed, he was always 
ready to relieve the party he commanded from the bur- 
den, and to undertake it himself. 

With this view, on the 18th of January, 1820, Frank- 
lin, with Back as his companion, and the faithful Hep- 
burn, took leave of Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood, who 
were to follow with their baggage in the spring. But, 
TJ2 



234 ARCTFC VOYAGES. 

before taking a brief view of the expedition of the first 
three to Carlton House, and thence to Fort Chipewyan, 
it may be expedient to glance over the proceedings of 
the two latter at Cumberland House, to which a chapter 
is separately appropriated in the narrative. The district 
of Cumberland is stated by Dr. Richardson to contain 
upward of 20,, 000 square miles, is peopled by about 120 
Indian hunters, most of them married, with an average 
of five to each family, or the whole Indian population 
may be estimated at 2500. Their mode of life subjects 
them to great privations ; the hooping-cough and mea- 
sles at this time were spreading through the whole tribe ; 
many died, and most of the siirvivors were so enfeebled 
as to be unable to pursue the necessary avocations of 
hunting and fishing ; the scenes of misery were heart- 
rending, and the few who had escaped disease were not 
able to afford relief to the sufferers. 

" One evening, in the month of January (says Dr. Richard- 
son), a poor Indian entered the Northwest Company's House, 
carrying his only child in his arms, and followed by his starv- 
ing wife. They had been hunting apart from the other bands, 
had been unsuccessful, and while in want were seized with 
the epidemical disease. An Indian is accustomed to starve, 
and it is not easy to elicit from him an account of his suffer- 
ings. This poor man's story was very brief; as soon as the 
fever abated, he set out with his wife for Cumberland House, 
having been previously reduced to feed on the bits of skin 
and offal which remained about their encampment. Even 
this miserable fare was exhausted, and they walked several 
days without eating, yet exerting themselves far beyond their 
strength, that they might save the life of the infant. It died 
almost within sight of the house. Mr. Connelly, then in 
charge of the post, received them with the utmost humanity, 
and instantly placed food before them ; but no language can 
describe the manner in which the miserable father dashed 
the morsel from his lips, and deplored the loss of his child. 
Misery may harden a disposition naturally bad, but it never 
fails to soften the heart of a good man." — P. 60, 61. 

A great part of the chapter is employed in a minute 
account of the Crees, or, as named by the French Ca- 
nadians, Knisteneaux. Much curious information regard- 
ing their manners, customs, and character is developed, 
and apparently on correct authority, but the detail would 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON S JOURNEY. 235 

be out of place in the present narrative. It may suffice, 
therefore, to give the doctor's conclusion, where he says, 
" We may state the Crees to be a vain, fickle, improvi- 
dent, and indolent race, and riot very strict in their ad- 
herence to truth, being great boasters ; but, on the oth- 
er hand, they strictly regard the rights of property, are 
susceptible of the kinder affections, capable of friendship, 
very hospitable, tolerably kind to their women, and with- 
al inclined to peace." He then gives an instance of their 
kind feeling toward the softer sex. " An Indian visited 
the fort in the winter. The poor man's wife had lost 
her feet by the frost : this compelled him not only to 
hunt, but to do all the menial offices himself, and in the 
winter, to drag his wife, with their stock of furniture, 
from one encampment to another. In the performance 
of this duty, as he could not keep pace with the rest of 
the tribe, he more than once nearly perished of hunger." 

In such a mode of life, in such a country, and in such 
society, it would be too much to expect a state of refine- 
ment, or of moral purity, even in females of the better 
part of the community, especially when the male por- 
tion of it is so debased. 

" The girls at the forts, particularly the daughters of Cana- 
dians, are given in marriage very young ; they are very fre- 
quently wives at twelve years of age ; and mothers at fourteen. 
Nay, more than one instance came under our observation of 
the master of a post having permitted a voyager to take to 
wife a poor child that had scarcely attained the age of ten 
years. The masters of posts and wintering partners of com- 
panies deemed this criminal indulgence to the vices of their 
servants necessary to stimulate them to exertion for the in- 
terest of their respective concerns. Another practice may 
also be noticed, as showing the state of moral feeling on these 
subjects among the white residents of the fur countries. It 
was not very uncommon among the Canadian voyagers for 
one woman to be common to, and maintained at the joint 
expense of, two men, nor for a voyager to sell his wife, 
either for a season or altogether, for a sum of money propor- 
tioned to her beauty and good qualities, but always inferior 
to the price of a team of dogs." — P. 86. 

The products of this part of the countiy are noticed 
by Dr. Richardson. Of forest trees he mentions two 
gpecies of poplar, two species of spruce-fir, three other 



236 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

pines, one larch, the canoe-birch, alder, and various wil- 
lows ; the sugar-maple, elm, ash, and arbor vitce (Thuya 
occidental) . Of fruits are two species of plum; one, 
very astringent, is known by the name of choke-cherry. 
Currants, gooseberries, raspberries, and strawberries, 
common ; cranberries, whortleberries, and others, plen- 
tifully met with on swampy and heathy grounds. Of 
the quadrupeds hunted for food are mostly the moose 
and the reindeer, the buffalo or bison, the red deer, 
jumping deer, long-tailed deer, and a species of antelope. 
Of the fur-bearing animals are foxes of various kinds, 
distinguished as black, silver, cross, red, and blue ; the 
wolverine, the lynx, the marten, the fisher, the otter, 
and the beaver. The Indians, it appears, have nearly 
destroyed the fur-bearing animals ; and so scarce is the 
beaver become, that in the whole journey to the shores 
of the Polar Sea and back, one single habitation, and one 
dam only o£ that industrious and ingenious creature, 
were met with. Among the many interesting anecdotes 
that have been told of' this animal, Dr. Richardson re- 
lates the following : 

" One day a gentleman, long resident in this country, espied 
five young beavers sporting in the water, leaping upon the 
trunk of a tree, pushing one another off, and playing a thou- 
sand interesting tricks. He approached softly under cover 
of the bushes, and prepared to fire on the unsuspecting crea- 
tures, but a nearer approach discovered to him such a simili- 
tude between their gestures and the infantile caresses of his 
own children, that he threw aside his gun. This gentleman's 
feelings are to be envied, but few traders in furs would have 
acted so feelingly."— P. 92. 

It has been stated that on the 18th of January, 1820, 
Sir John Franklin, Mr. Back, and John Hepburn left 
Cumberland House for Carlton House, to proceed from 
thence to Fort Chipewyan, there to make preparation for 
proceeding to the northern coast. A circumstantial ac- 
count is given of the mode of traveling, of the rivers, 
lakes, and portages, of the posts of the two companies, 
of the snows that fell, and the numerous hardships that 
the traveler in winter must necessarily undergo, daily 
and nightly, till he arrives at his destination, and the 
close of the spring mitigates the severity of the temper- 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSOn's JOURNEY. 237 

ature. What the state of that temperature had been 
from the 18th of January to the 26th of March, when 
the party reached Chipewyan, there is no record, for a 
reason explained by Franklin, who says that " this even- 
ing (18th of January) we found the mercury of our ther- 
mometer had sunk into the bulb, and was frozen. It 
rose again into the tube on being held to the. fire, but 
quickly redescended into the bulb on being removed into 
the air ; we could not, therefore, ascertain by it the tem- 
perature of the atmosphere, either then or during our 
journey. Mr. Hood, however, who made a journey 
from Cumberland House to the Basquian Hill, not far 
from the former, states in his journal, that on the 25th 
of March the thermometer fell in the open air to 15° 
below zero, although it rose the following day to 60° 
above it. The sudden changes that take place in the 
northern parts of North America are very remarkable. 
On the 15th of April Mr. Hood records that " the first 
shower of rain fell we had seen for six months, and on 
the 17th the thermometer rose to 77° in the shade." 
He also observes that, " on the 10th or 12th of April, the 
return of the swans, geese, and ducks gave certain indi- 
cations of the advance of spring." 

The warm weather, by the sudden melting of the 
snow and ice, deluged the face of the country, and gave 
rise to a remark of Mr. Hood, the truth of which has 
been proved by many well- attested facts. He says, 
" the noise made by the frogs which this inundation pro- 
duced is almost incredible. There is strong reason to 
believe that they outlive the severity of winter. They 
have often been found frozen, and revived by warmth ; 
nor is it possible that the multitude which incessantly 
filled our ears with their discordant notes could have been 
matured in two or three days." Strong d«ubts had long 
before this been entertained of the correpjness of the fact 
here stated, but experiments made by competent per- 
sons proved that not only frogs, but leeches, snails, grubs, 
fishes, and other animals, could be frozen by artificial 
cold, and revived. It was farther ascertained that frogs 
would revive if the heart even was frozen, but that if 
the brain was congealed, life became so irrecoverably ex- 
tinct that not only could no degree of warmth produce 



238 ARCTIC VOYAGED 

symptoms of recovery, but the animal was rendered in- 
capable of being affected by the galvanic action. " 1 have 
frequently," says Hearne, "seen frogs dug up with the 
moss, frozen as hard as ice, in which state the legs are 
as easily broken off as a pipestem ; but," he adds, "if 
they be permitted to freeze again, they are past all re- 
covery." 

Captain Franklin also notices the resuscitation of fish- 
es after being frozen : 

" It may be worthy of notice here, that the fish froze as 
they were taken out of the nets, and in a short time became 
a solid mass of ice, and by a blow or two of the hatchet were 
easily split open, when the intestines might be removed in 
one lump. If in this completely frozen state they were 
thawed before the fire, they recovered their animation. 
This was particularly the case with the carp, and we had 
occasion to observe it repeatedly, as Dr. Richardson occupied 
himself in examining the structure of the different species of 
fish, and was always, in the winter, under the necessity of 
thawing them before he could cut them. We have seen a 
carp recover so far as to leap about with much vigor after it 
had been frozen for thirty-six hours." — P. 248. 

Nay, it may be stated that the same effect is produced 
on the insect tribe. It is reported by Mr. Ellis, that at 
the Hudson's Bay factory, a black, frozen mass of a peat- 
like substance being brought before the fire and thawed, 
there came from it a cloud of living musquetoes. Cap- 
tain Buchan observed myriads of insects frozen on the 
surface of a lake in Newfoundland, and imbodied in the 
solid ice ; the next day, by the powerful rays of the sun, 
they were loosened from durance, became reanimated, 
and took their flight into the air. 

Mr. Hood, in his journey, also makes an observation 
of a different kind regarding this most annoying animal. 

" We had sometimes before procured a little rest by clos- 
ing the tent and burning wood or flashing gunpowder with- 
in, the smoke driving the musquetoes into the crannies of the 
ground. But this remedy was now ineffectual, though we 
employed it so perseveringly as to hazard suffocation ; they 
swarmed under our blankets, goring us with their enven- 
omed trunks, and steeping our clothes in blood. We rose at 
daylight in a fever, and our misery was unmitigated during 
our whole stay. 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON'S JOURNEY. 239 

" The food of the musquetoe is blood, which it can extract 
by penetrating the hide of a buffalo ; and if it is not disturb- 
ed, it gorges itself so as to swell its body into a transparent 
globe. The wound does not swell like that of the African 
musquetoe, but it is infinitely more painful ; and when mul- 
tiplied a hundred fold, and continued for so many successive 
days, it becomes an evil of such magnitude, that cold, fam- 
ine, and every other concomitant of an inhospitable climate 
must yield the pre-eminence to it. It chases the buffalo to 
the plains, irritating him to madness j and the reindeer to the 
sea-shore, from which they do not return till the scourge has 
ceased."— P. 188, 189. 

To return to Captain Franklin and his companion Back* 
A description is given of the sledges, the coracles, the 
snow-shoes, and the clothing of a winter-traveler in this 
cold and dreary climate, a repetition of which would af- 
ford but little entertainment to the general reader. Dr. 
Richardson, in his account of the Crees, says that tat- 
tooing is as common among them as in the Oriental Isl- 
ands, notwithstanding it is a most painful operation : " a 
half-breed, whose arm I amputated, declared that tattoo- 
ing was not only the most painful operation of the two, 
but infinitely more difficult to bear, by its tediousness, 
having, in his case, lasted three days." Captain Frank- 
lin has also some notices of the Crees, but is more par- 
ticular respecting the Stone Indians, residing near the 
Company's post of Carlton House ; " they are more pre- 
possessing," he says, " in their looks, but addicted to 
thieving, and grossly and habitually treacherous. Their 
countenances are affable and pleasing, their eyes large 
and expressive, nose aquiline, teeth white and regular, 
the forehead bold, the cheek-bones rather high. Their 
figure is usually good, above the middle size, with slender 
but well-proportioned limbs. Their color is a light cop- 
per, and they have a profusion of very black hair." Back 
has supplied a very striking portrait. They steal what- 
ever they can, particularly horses, maintaining that they 
are common property sent by the Almighty for the gen- 
eral use of man, and therefore may be taken wherever 
met with. This avowed disposition calls for the strict- 
est vigilance at the several posts. 

" In the afternoon of the 26th of March we had the 
pleasure of arriving," says Captain Franklin, " at Fort 



;>40 AttcTro \uvao^. 

Chipewyan, and thus terminated a winter's journey of 
eight hundred and fifty-seven miles, in the progress of 
which there was a great intermixture of agreeable and 
disagreeable circumstances." The latter, he thinks, if 
balanced, would preponderate, and that walking in snow- 
shoes was among the most prominent. To the inexperi- 
enced, indeed, the suffering occasioned by walking in 
snow-shoes appears to be dreadful, " and can be but 
faintly imagined by a person who thinks upon the incon- 
venience of marching with a weight of between two and 
three pounds constantly attached to galled feet and swell- 
ed ankles." But Mr. Hood will best describe it. 

" The miseries endured during the first journey of this na 
ture are so great, that nothing could induce the sufferer to 
undertake a second while under the influence of present 
pain. He feels his frame crushed by unaccountable press- 
ure, he drags a galling and stubborn weight at his feet, and 
his track is marked with blood. The dazzling scene around 
him affords no rest to his eye, no object to divert his attention 
from his own agonizing sensations. When he rises from 
sleep, half his body seems dead, till quickened into feeling 
by the irritation of his sores. But, fortunately for him, no 
evil makes an impression so evanescent as pain. It can not 
be wholly banished, nor recalled with the force of reality, 
by any act of the mind, either to affect our determinations, 
or to sympathize with another. The traveler soon forgets 
his sufferings, and at every future journey their recurrence is 
attended with diminished acuteness." — P. 173, 174. 

Preparations were forthwith to be made at Chipewy- 
an for prosecuting the main object of the expedition, and 
in the consultation with the principals of the two great 
contending companies, Franklin, by his persuasive and 
conciliating manners, brought about a cordial desire on 
the part of both to render mutual assistance to the for- 
warding of that object. Here, too, in the early part of 
July, he had the sincere gratification of welcoming his 
long-separated friends, Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood, 
who arrived in perfect health; and he records the zeal 
and talents displayed by these two gentlemen, and speaks 
in the highest terms of approbation of the manner in 
which their several duties had been discharged since 
their separation. 

The Chipewyans are the neighboring tribe of the 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON^ JOURNEY. 241 

Stone Indians, with less promising features, but more 
honest, rude in their manners, and extremely supersti- 
tious. Their features also are against them ; they have 
broad faces, projecting cheek-bones, and wide nostrils, 
but generally good teeth and fine eyes ; they are reserv- 
ed and selfish; they beg with unceasing importunity 
every thing they see. " I never saw men," says Frank- 
lin, " who either received or bestowed a gift with such 
bad grace ; they almost snatch the thing from you in one 
instance, and throw it at you in the other." Our travel- 
ers fell in with a party of these people in the most for- 
lorn condition, having destroyed every thing they pos- 
sessed in token of grief for the severe loss they had sus- 
tained by the prevailing sickness of measles, hooping- 
cough, and dysentery. " It appears," says Franklin, 
*' that no article is spared by those unhappy men when 
a near relative dies ; their clothes and tents are cut to 
pieces, their guns broken, and every other weapon ren- 
dered useless, if some person do not remove those ar- 
ticles from their sight." As some relief, however, to 
the darker shades of their character, instances of theft 
are stated to be extremely rare among them ; they also 
possess strong affection for their children. A curious 
example of this was mentioned to the party, " and so 
well authenticated," says Franklin, " that I shall venture 
to give it in the words of Dr. Richardson's Journal." 

" A young Chipewyan had separated from the rest of his 
band lor the purpose of trenching beaver, when his wife, 
who was his sole companion, and in her first pregnancy, was 
seized with the pains of labor. She died on the third day 
after she had given birth to a boy. The husband was in- 
consolable, and vowed hi his anguish never to take another 
woman to wife, but his grief was soon in some degree ab- 
sorbed in anxiety for the fate of his infant son. To preserve 
its life, he descended to the office of nurse, so degrading in 
the eyes of a Chipewyan, as partaking of the duties . of a 
woman. He swaddled it in soft moss, fed it with broth 
made from the flesh of the deer, and to still its cries applied 
it to his breast, praying earnestly to the great Master of Life 
to assist his endeavors. The force of the powerful passion 
by which he was actuated produced the same effect in his 
case as it has done in some others which are recorded : a 
flow of milk actually took place from his breast. He suc- 
ceeded in rearing his child, taught him to be s hunter, and 
16 X 



24% 



ARCTIC VOYAGES. 



when he attained the age of manhood, chose him a wife from 
the tribe. The old man kept his vow in never taking a sec- 
ond wife himself, but he delighted in tending his son's chil- 
dren, and when his daughter-in-law used to interfere, saying 
that it was not the occupation of a man, he was wont to re- 
ply, that he had promised to the great Master of Life, if his 
child was spared, never to be proud, like the other Indians. 
He used to mention, too, as a certain proof of the approbation 
of Providence, that although he was always obliged to carry 
his child on his back while hunting, yet it never roused 
a moose by its cries, being always particularly still at those 
times. Our informant (Mr. Wentzel) added, that he had oft- 
en seen this Indian in his old age, and that his left breast, even 
then, retained the unusual size it had acquired in his occupa- 
tion of nurse."— P. 157, 158. 

Singular as this case may appear, Dr. Richardson is 
quite correct in stating that there are others on record 
in which the same effects precisely were produced, and 
among which is that recorded by the Baron von Hum- 
boldt in his South American travels, and which some of 
the physiologists of that day pronounced to be impossi- 
ble, while they were advancing and defending other sto- 
ries not less miraculous. It is not safe, in this age of 
wonderful discoveries, to pronounce dogmatically what 
is and what is not possible. Physiologists, and physi- 
cians, and surgeons may say, as some have said, that 
man has not been gifted, as woman is, with lacteous nu- 
triment ; but common sense may lead to the presumption 
that both, being eonstituted of the same materials, and 
supplied with similar glands, may, by some extraordinary 
circumstance — "the force of powerful passion," as Div 
Richardson observes — produce like effects. The opin- 
ions of two of the most eminent physiologists may here 
be given. Magendie says, " Though the secretion of 
milk seems proper to women after parturition, it has 
been sometimes seen in virgins, and even in man." — 
(Magendie's Physiology.) And Richer and says, "There 
have been known men in whom a long-continued titilla- 
tion of the breasts had determined so considerable an af- 
flux of the humors, that there oozed from them a whit- 
ish, milky, saccharine fluid, not unlike the milk of a 
woman." — (Richerand's Physiology.) To say that a 
thing is. impossible is a very easy, but not a convin.- 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON S JOURNEY. 243 

cing way of settling a disputed question. "When Ste- 
phenson constructed the first railroad between Liverpool 
and Manchester, near twenty years ago, and asserted 
that its speed would exceed sixteen miles an hour, it 
was laughed at by a great lawyer (a senior wrangler), 
employed against the bill, who asserted dogmatically 
that such a speed was impossible ; but Stephenson, 
somewhat nettled, called out, " Instead of sixteen, I can 
make it sixty, if necessary." Every impediment was 
thrown in the way of establishing a distant electrical tel- 
egraph ; but the confidence which a few had in Profess- 
or Wheats tone carried the point, and a communication 
can now be held with Portsmouth from London (with 
their two distant termini, even) in a very few minutes — 
a single signal in half a second : in fact, electricity re- 
gards neither time nor space. How many impossibili- 
ties would ordinary people meet with in the agencies of 
electricity, galvanism, and magnetism, one or all of 
which may almost be looked on as the life and soul of 
the material of our world, daily manifesting the truth 
that " we are yet only on the threshold of discovery" — 
Sir Humphrey Davy's words, uttered but a short time 
before his death. 

To return, after this digression, to our voyagers. As 
soon as the number of people to be employed was com- 
pleted, consisting of sixteen Canadian voyagers, their 
English attendant, John Hepburn, two interpreters, to 
be received at the Great Slave Lake, and one Chipewy- 
an woman, and their provisions shipped, they all em- 
barked on the 18th of July, in high glee, and the crews 
of the three canoes commenced a lively paddling song on 
leaving the shore, which was continued till out of sight 
of the house. On the 24th they reached Moose-deer 
Island, a post of the Northwest Company, and engaged 
Pierre St. Germain as interpreter for the Copper In- 
dians. On the 28th they arrived at Fort Providence, 
situated on the northeastern side of Great Slave Lake. 
They found here Mr. Wentzel and the second interpret- 
er, Jean Baptiste Adam. The duties allotted to the 
former were, the management of the Indians, the super- 
intendence of the Canadian voyagers, the obtaining and 
distributing provisions and other stores, all of which he 



244 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

was well qualified to perform, having been twenty years 
in the country. Here, too, they were waited on by the 
chief of the Indians, named Akaitcho. He made a 
speech, purporting that he rejoiced to see such great 
chiefs on his land; that his tribe was poor, but they 
loved white men, who had been their benefactors ; said 
he would attend them to the end of their journey, and 
would do all he could to provide them with the means 
of subsistence. Franklin, of course, made a suitable ac- 
knowledgment in return. 

On the 2d of August they left Fort Providence, on 
their way to the Copper Mine River, the party consist- 
ing of six Englishmen, six Canadian voyagers, and three 
interpreters, to which were added Akaitcho and his In- 
dians. The details of the journey as far as Fort Enter- 
prise, on the banks of "Winter Lake, the difficulties that 
occurred in the navigation of the numerous rivers and 
lakes, and the crossing of portages, could give little or no 
information of interest to the general reader, and shall 
therefore be omitted. Suffice it to say, that after nu- 
merous difficulties, experienced from scarcity of provi- 
sions for the party that attended them, impediments of 
navigation, and the severe labor of the frequent portages, 
they were glad to arrive, on the 20th of August, after a 
slow and tedious progress, at the spot where it was de- 
cided to winter, and which was distant about 550 miles 
from Chipewyan. Captain Franklin states their journey 
briefly thus : . 

" The counted length of the portages we had crossed since 
leaving Fort Providence is twenty-one statute miles and a 
half; and as our men had to traverse each portage four times 
with a load of 180 pounds, and return three times light, they 
walked in the whole upward of one hundred and fifty miles. 
The total length of our voyage from Chipewyan is five hun- 
dred and fifty-three miles. In the afternoon (he says) we 
read divine service, and offered our thanksgiving to the Al- 
mighty for his goodness in having brought us thus far on our 
journey; a duty which we never neglected, when stationary, 
on the Sabbath." 

Before the termination of the last journey, however, 
the Canadian voyagers became discontented, and threat- 
ened not to proceed forward unless more food was given 
to them ; and Franklin, after addressing them in the 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARD30N's JOURNEY. 245 

strongest manner oft the danger of insubordination, and 
his determination to inflict the heaviest punishment on 
any who should refuse to proceed, admits that their 
hardships were of a kind that few would support with- 
out murmuring, and none could witness without a sin- 
cere pity for their sufferings. Relief, however, was at 
hand by the arrival of some hunters with the carcasses 
of reindeer. 

On arriving at their destination, the Canadians set 
cordially about the erection of a house for their winter 
quarters, to which was given the name of Fort Enter- 
prise, a name that, in reference to future events, might 
with great and deplorable propriety be changed to that 
of the " House of Misery, Lamentation, and Woe." 
The anxiety felt by Franklin of getting on to the north- 
ward, notwithstanding the opinion of all that the late- 
ness of the season and the probable want of provisions 
would make such an attempt inexpedient, and Akaitcho 
having positively refused to let his Indians proceed, 
Franklin remonstrated with this chief ; and, continuing 
to press the matter, he answered with some warmth : 

" Well, I have said every thing I can urge to dissuade 
you from going on this service, on which it seems you wish 
to sacrifice your own lives, as well as the Indians who might 
attend you : however, if, after all I have said, you are de- 
termined to go, some of my young men shall join the party, 
because it shall not be said that we permitted you to die 
alone after having brought you hither ; but, from the moment 
they embark in the cauoes, I and my relatives shall lament 
them as dead. ' '— P . 225 . 

This speech of the chief did not fail to make an im- 
pression on Franklin, who, after communicating to his 
officers what had passed, it was agreed by all that a 
party should be sent forward only for the purpose of 
ascertaining the distance and size of the Copper Mine 
River ; and the two youngsters, B ack and Hood, were 
dispatched on that service in a light canoe, having with 
them the interpreter, St. Germain, eight Canadians, and 
one Indian. Franklin, however, at all times unwilling 
to impose a task on others of which he did not take a 
share himself, says that Dr. Richardson and he deter- 
mined on making a pedestrian excursion to the Copper 
Mine River, leaving Mr. Wentzel to superintend the 
X2 



246 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

buildings. Accordingly, they set out on the 9th of Sep- 
tember, and having suffered much from snow and cold, 
reached the Copper Mine River on the 13th, and were 
glad to get back to Fort Enterprise, having traversed on 
foot about eighty miles. On the same day Back and 
Hood returned from their inspection. 

" I was much pleased (says Franklin) with the able man- 
ner in which these officers executed the service they had 
been dispatched upon, and was gratified to learn from them 
that their companions had conducted themselves extremely 
well, and borne the fatigues of the journey most cheerfully. 
They scarcely had ever more than sufficient fuel to boil the 
kettle, and were generally obliged to lie down in their 
wet clothes, and, consequently, suffered much from cold." — 
P. 237. 

Soon, however, after the parties had returned to the 
fort, it was stated by the wintering party at Fort En- 
terprise that they had been apprised that the provisions 
they had, and were likely to obtain, would not suffice 
for their journey to the sea and along the coast, and 
that the ammunition and clothing had not come up from 
the southward : Mr. Back, therefore, with that zeal and 
activity by which he had particularly distinguished him- 
self, volunteered to set out, on the 18th of October, 
with Mr. Wentzel, two Canadians, two Indians and 
their wives, and return to Fort Providence, and, if nec- 
essary, to Chipewyan, to obtain and hasten the required 
supplies. This journey was performed on foot, in the 
midst of winter, and was successful. Wentzel returned 
from Providence in the month of December, accompa- 
nied by two Esquimaux interpreters, whom they found 
at Fort Providence, where they had arrived from the 
neighborhood of Chesterfield Inlet ; their long, unpro- 
nounceable names were now converted into those of 
Augustus and Junius ; the former understood a little of 
the English language. Back, always alert when duty 
required his exertion, proceeded to Chipewyan. 

Some traits of the Indian character are given in the 
report of his long and perilous journey, and of the con- 
duct of the Indians, which deserve to be here noticed. 
A single instance may be sufficient to stamp their char- 
acter. " One of the women caught a fine pike by 
making a hole in the ice, which she gave to us ; the In- 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARmON^S JOURNEY. 247 

dians positively refused to partake of it, from the idea 
(as we afterward learned) that we should not have 
sufficient for ourselves : ' we are accustomed to starva- 
tion,' said they, ' but you are not.' " The Indians and 
their wives complained of illness and want of rest, which 
induced Back to serve out to them a flagon of mixed 
spirits. " It was a satisfaction to me," he says, " to be- 
hold these poor creatures enjoying themselves, for they 
had behaved in the most exemplary and active manner 
toward the party, and with a generosity and sympathy 
seldom found even in the more civilized parts of the 
world ; and the attention and affection which they man- 
ifested toward their wives evinced a benevolence of 
disposition and goodness of nature which could not fail 
to secure the approbation of the most indifferent ob- 
server." Another instance, while it conveys some idea 
of the privation to which the party were exposed with 
regard to food, shows the desire of the Indians, in the 
midst of then - own sufferings, to administer to the relief 
of the strangers. 

" One of our men caught a fish, which, with the assistance 
of some weed scraped from the rocks (tripe de rocke), that 
affords a glutinous substance, made us a tolerable supper; 
it was not of the most choice kind, yet good enough for 
hungry men. While we were eating it I perceived one of 
the women busily employed scraping an old skin, with the 
contents of which her husband presented us. They consist- 
ed of pounded meat, fat, and a greater proportion of Indian's 
and deer's hair than either ; and though such a mixture may 
not appear very alluring to an English stomach, it was 
thought a great luxury after three days' privation in these 
cheerless regions of America. Indeed, had it not been for 
the precaution and generosity of the Indians, we must have 
gone' without sustenance until we reached the forts." — P. 
273, 274. 

Back, in this dreadful journey, was not only exposed 
to starvation and the extremity of cold, but also to the 
danger of perishing in some of the lakes which they had 
to cross on foot. On a narrow branch of the Slave 
Lake he fell through the ice, but escaped without in- 
jury ; on another occasion the ice bent so that it re- 
quired the utmost speed to avoid falling through where 
it gave way, as it seems to have done at every step he 



248 ARCTIC VOYAGED. 

took. In snort, it was little less than miraculous, con- 
sidering the season and the severity of the winter, that 
he ever returned safe, which, however, he had the good 
fortune to do on the 17th of March, when he arrived at 
Fort Enterprise, where, he says, "I had the pleasure 
of meeting my friends all in good health, after an ab- 
sence of nearly five months, during which time I had 
traveled 1104 miles on snow-shoes, and had no other 
covering at night, in the woods, than a blanket and deer 
skin, with the thermometer frequently at — 40°, and 
once at — 57°, and sometimes passing two or three 
days without tasting food." Well may Franklin say, 
" I had every reason to be much pleased with his con- 
duct on this arduous undertaking." 

With regard to the temperature of the winter, it was 
not improved by the more northern situation of Fort 
Enterprise. Augustus spoke so highly of the warmth 
of a snow-house, that he was employed in the building 
of one, which he did after a very speedy and clever 
operation, and of which Captain Franklin has given a 
description and plan ; but as Parry has supplied both, 
obtained from the very same people, they need not here 
be repeated. Franklin says, " The purity of the mate- 
rial of which the house was framed, the elegance of its 
construction, and the transparency of its walls, which 
transmitted a very pleasant light, gave it an appearance 
far superior to a marble building, and one might survey 
it with feelings somewhat akin to those produced by the 
contemplation of a Grecian temple reared by Phidias ; 
both are triumphs of art, inimitable in their kinds." 
Like many of the Grecian temples, they too are covered 
by domes, built on the principle of an arch, which is 
perfectly understood by them. We have had many 
learned disquisitions on the origin of the arch, which 
some say was copied from nature ; the poor isolated 
Esquimaux, evidently an original people, unlike to any 
other in physical appearance, had nature only to con- 
sult, in which, with their own ingenuity, as we have 
learned from Parry, they are by no means deficient. 

In December, Franklin has given a statement of the 
severity of the cold, which is not more intense than 
Back experienced : 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON^ JOURNEY. 249 

" The weather during this month was the coldest we ex- 
perienced during our residence in America. The thermom- 
eter sunk on one occasion to 57° below zero, and never rose 
beyond 6° above it; the mean for the month was — 29°-7. 
During these intense colds, however, the atmosphere was 
generally calm, and the wood-cutters and others went about 
their ordinary occupations without using any extraordinary 
precautions, yet without feeling any bad effects. They had 
their reindeer shirts on, leathern mittens lined with blankets, 
and furred caps ; but none of them used any defense for the 
face, nor did they need to do so. Indeed we have already 
mentioned that the heat is abstracted most rapidly from the 
body during strong breezes ; and most of those who have 
perished from cold in this country have fallen a sacrifice to 
their being overtaken on a lake, or other unsheltered place, 
by a storm of wind. The intense colds were, however, 
detrimental to us in another way. The trees froze to their 
very centers, and became as hard as stones, and more difficult 
to cut. Some of the axes were broken daily, and by the end 
of the month we had only one left that was "fit for felling 
trees. By intrusting it only to one of the party who had 
been bred a carpenter, and who could use it with dexterity, 
it was fortunately preserved until the arrival of oar men with 
others from Fort Providence. 

" A thermometer, hung in our bedroom at the distance of 
sixteen feet from the fire, but exposed to its direct radiation, 
stood, even in the daytime, occasionally at 15° below zero, 
and was observed more than once, previous to the kindling 
of the fire in the morning, to be as low as 40° below zero. 
On two of these occasions, the chronometers (Nos. 2149 and 
2151), which during the night lay under Mr. Hood's and Dr. 
Richardson's pillows, stopped while they were dressing them- 
selves."— P. 254, 255. 

In one of the families that frequented the house was 
a good-looking girl, concerning whom Captain Franklin 
gives the following anecdote : 

" I may remark, that the daughter, whom we designated 
Green-stockings, from her dress, is considered by her tribe 
to be a great beauty. Mr. Hood drew an accurate portrait 
of her, although her mother was averse from her sitting for 
it. She was afraid, she said, that her daughter's likeness 
would induce the Great Chief who resided in England to send 
for the original. The young lady, however, was undeterred 
by any such fear. She has already been an object of contest 
between her countrymen, and, although under sixteen years 
of age, has belonged- successively to two husbands, and would 



250 ARCTIC VOYAGES; 

probably have been the wife of many more, if her mother 
had not required her services as a nurse." — P. 254. 

The ingenious methods pursued by Captain Parry in 
his winter's abode in the Arctic regions, for the amuse- 
ment and occupation of Ms people, were not known to 
Captain Franklin ; but he equally found it necessary, 
during the dreary months they were shut up in Fort 
Enterprise, to furnish some kind of employment, espe- 
cially for the officers of the expedition, who, however, 
were at no loss ; they were engaged in writing out their 
journals, calculating the results of their observations, and 
in constructing the charts of the routes, while Messrs. 
Hood and Back were employed in finishing their draw- 
ings. The reading of newspapers, magazines, and let- 
ters from England was a source of occupation. But 
Captain Franklin has given a sketch, which contains the 
usual routine of their winter's life at Fort Enterprise. 

" In the evenings we joined the men in the hall, and took 
a part in their games, which generally continued to a late 
hour ; in short, we never found the time to hang heavy upon 
our hands ; and the peculiar occupations of each of the offi- 
cers afforded them more employment than might at first be 
supposed. I recalculated the observations made on our 
route ; Mr. Hood protracted the charts, and made those draw- 
ings of birds, plants, and fishes, which can not appear in this 
work, but which have been the admiration of every one who 
has seen them. Each of the party sedulously and separately 
recorded their observations on the aurora, and Dr. Richard- 
son contrived to obtain from under the snow specimens of 
most of the lichens in the neighborhood, and to make himself 
acquainted with the mineralogy of the surrounding country. 

" The Sabbath was always a day of rest with us ; the wood- 
men were required to provide for the exigencies of that day 
on Saturday, and the party were dressed in their best attire. 
Divine service was regularly performed, and the Canadians 
attended, and behaved with great decorum, although they 
were all Roman Catholics, and but little acquainted with the 
language in which the prayers were read. I regretted much 
that we had not a French Prayer-Book, but the Lord's Prayer 
and Creed were always read to them in their own language. 

" Our diet consisted almost entirely of reindeer meat, varied 
twice a week by fish, and occasionally by a little flour, but 
we had no vegetables of any description. On the Sunday 
mornings we chank a cup of chocolate ; but our greatest lux- 
ury was tea (without sugar), of which we regularly partook 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON'S JOURNEY. 251 

twice a day. With reindeer's fat and strips of cotton shirts, 
we formed candles ; and Hepburn acquired considerable skill 
in the manufacture of soap, from the wood-ashes, fat, and 
salt. The formation of soap was considered as rather a mys- 
terious operation by our Canadians, and in their hands was 
always supposed to fail if a woman approached the kettle in 
which the ley was boiling. Such are our simple domestic 
details."— P. 258, 259. 

The aurora borealis made its appearance frequently, 
with more or less brilliancy, but was not particularly re- 
markable ; in the month of December it was visible twen- 
ty-eight of the long nights. Mr. Back gives, in the nar- 
rative of his journey, the following extraordinary ac- 
count, which he received from one of the partners of the 
Northwest Company, but he does not vouch for the 
truth of it. " He was traveling in a canoe in the Eng- 
lish River, and had landed near the Kettle Fall, when 
the coruscations of the aurora were so vivid and low, 
that the Canadians fell on their faces, and began praying 
and ciying, fearing they should be killed; he himself 
threw away his gun and knife, that they might not at- 
tract the flashes, for they were within two feet of the 
earth, flitting along with incredible swiftness, and mov- 
ing parallel to its surface. They continued for upward 
of five minutes, as near as he could judge, and made a 
loud rustling noise, like the waving of a flag in a strong 
breeze. After they had ceased the sky became clear, 
with little wind." 

Captain Franklin, Dr. Richardson, and Mr. Hood 
were most attentive observers of the aurora. Captain 
Franklin says that, having observed the aurora upward 
of two hundred times, he is not able to attest the fact of 
the noise ascribed to it. Mr. Back, when on his jour- 
ney, the night being fine, says, " the aurora was so vivid, 
that we imagined more than once that we heard a rus- 
tling noise, like that of autumnal leaves stirred by the 
wind ; but after two hours of attentive listening we were 
not entirely convinced of the fact." They all agree as 
to its influence over the magnetic needle. By a num- 
ber of experiments, it was found that, in certain positions 
of the beams and arches, the needle was considerably 
drawn aside, and more particularly when the flashes were 
between the clouds and the earth ; for it was also ascer- 



252 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

tained that the height of the aurora, instead of being, as 
supposed by Mr. Dalton and others, beyond the region 
of the atmosphere, is usually not more than six or seven 
miles from the earth. " We have sometimes seen," 
Mr. Hood says, " an attenuated aurora flashing across a 
hundred degrees of the sky in a single second : a quick- 
ness of motion inconsistent with the height of sixty or 
seventy miles, the least which has hitherto been ascribed 
to it." 

On the 1st of January, 1821, the usual festivities of the 
new year were held. The only treat the people could 
receive was a little flour and fat, both luxuries ; but the 
feast languished for want of spirits. The whole month 
was cold and foggy, yet the Indians declared it was the 
warmest they had known ; the thermometer, however, 
toward the latter part, descended to 49°, and the mean 
temperature of the month was 15° '6. On the 15th 
large supplies were received from Fort Providence, and 
the people had their ration of spirits served out to them. 
Toward the end of March two Indians arrived from 
The Hook, a chief next to Akaitcho in authority among 
the Copper Indians : his band were stationed between 
the Marten and Great Bear Lakes ; they brought offers 
from him to supply dried meat on the banks of the Cop- 
per Mine River, in return for goods and ammunition. 
The offer was declined, but they were desired to tell 
him that notes on the Northwest Company's post would 
be given for either provisions or leather when they met. 
Even at this period, Franklin says, " the hunters sent 
us no supplies ; our net produced very few fish, and the 
pounded meat intended to keep for summer use was 
nearly expended. Our meals at this period were al- 
ways scanty, and we were occasionally restricted to one 
in the day." 

But the Indian families which congregated about the 
house, consisting principally of women and children, suf- 
fered the most. 

" I had often requested them to move to Akaitche's lodge, 
where they were more certain of receiving supplies ; but as 
most of them were sick or infirm, they did not like to quit 
the house, where they daily received medicines from Dr. 
Richardson, to encounter the fatigue of following the move- 
ments of a hunting-camp. They cleared away the snow on 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON S JOURNEY. 253 

the site of the autumn encampments to look for bones, deer's 
feet, bits of hide, and other offal. When we beheld them 
gnawing the pieces of hide, and pounding the bones for the 
purpose of extracting some nourishment from them by boil- 
ing, we regretted our inability to relieve them, but little 
thought that we should ourselves be afterward driven to the 
necessity of eagerly collecting these same bones a second time 
from the dunghill." — P. 298. 

The weather in May became warm, and the approach 
of spring was agreeably confirmed by the gradual ap- 
pearance of various kinds of birds and of reindeer. The 
average temperature for the month was about 32°, the 
greatest heat 68°, and the lowest 18° ; at the end of the 
month the sun did not set. Preparations were now 
made for the long journey down the Copper Mine Riv- 
er to the coast of the Polar Sea, and along it to the 
eastward. The first party started on the 4th of June, 
under the charge of Dr. Richardson, consisting of twen- 
ty-three persons, exclusive of children. Among them 
were fifteen Canadian voyagers. A promise was made 
by Akaitcho, in presence of Mr. Wentzel and the In- 
dians, that a deposit of provisions should be made at 
this place, Fort Enterprise, previous to next September, 
as a resource should the party return by this way ; and 
Wentzel undertook to see this done. 

On the 14th of June, all being completed, Captain 
Franklin set off with three canoes, dragged by four men 
each, and two dogs. The stores, the instruments, and 
the small stock of dried meat, amounting only to eighty 
pounds, were distributed equally among Hepburn, three 
Canadians, and the two Esquimaux, Junius and Augus- 
tus. All the party set out on foot. On crossing a small 
lake, Franklin fell in through the ice, and soon after 
Back did the same, and Junius also, with a heavy bur- 
den on his back, but none of them were hurt. It was 
not till the 21st that Franklin's party joined Dr. Rich- 
ardson at Point Lake. To ease the men who had car- 
ried the canoes, the third canoe was left here, as by do- 
ing this three men were gained to assist those who had 
become lame. 

It were tedious, and not very interesting, to repeat 
the details of the journey over lakes, down rapids and 
cataracts, over portages, and across a hilly country, 



254 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

dreadfully fatiguing to the men, or to relate the alternate 
successes and disappointments of the hunters. It is 
enough to say that on the 30th of June they embarked 
on the Copper Mine River, which, at a point called 
Rock-nest, is stated to be about two hundred yards wide, 
ten feet deep, and to flow very rapidly over a rocky bot- 
tom ; its banks picturesque, the hills shelving to the wa- 
ter side, well covered with wood, and the surface of the 
rocks richly clothed with lichens. Musk-oxen were 
here veiy plentiful near the river, and in all this part of 
the country ; and, like the buffalo, herd together in 
bands, so that one day the hunters killed eight cows. It 
is said that when two or three men get so near a herd 
as to fire at them from different points, instead of sepa- 
rating or running away, these animals huddle closer to- 
gether, and several are generally killed ; but if the wound 
be not mortal, they become enraged, and dart in the 
most furious manner at the hunters, who must be very 
dexterous to evade them. 

On the 7th of July they arrived at The Hook's en- 
campment, the Indian chief before mentioned, who was 
particularly civil, and said, " The amount of meat I have 
is very srnall, but I will cheerfully give you what I have ; 
we are too much indebted to the white people to allow 
them to want food on our lands while we have any to give 
them ;" and he promised to remain on the side of the 
Bear Lake, which is near to the Copper Mine River, 
till the month of November, and to furnish the party with 
supplies on their return. He too, as well as all the In- 
dians, earnestly entreated the travelers to be constantly 
on their guard against the treachery of the Esquimaux. 

They were now approaching the Copper Mountains, 
their encampment being in lat. 67° V 10", long. 116° 
27' 28" W. ; variation of the compass, 44° IT 43", and 
dip of the needle, 87° 31' 18". From hence they visit- 
ed the Copper Mountains in search of specimens of the 
ore, agreeably, as Franklin says, with his instructions ; 
the party consisting of twenty-one persons, voyagers 
and Indians, including the officers. 

" We traveled for nine hours over a considerable space of 
ground, but found only a few small pieces of native copper. 
The mountains varied in height from 1200 to 1500 feet; their 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON^ JOURNEY. 255 

uniformity is interrupted by narrow valleys traversed by 
small streams. The best specimens of metal we procured 
were among the stones in these valleys, and it was in such 
situations that our guides desired us to search most carefully. 
It would appear, that when the Indians see any sparry sub- 
stance projecting above the surface, they dig there, but they 
have no other rule to direct them, and have never found the 
metal in its original repository. Our guides reported that 
they had found copper in large pieces in every part of this 
range for two days' walk to the northwest, and that the Es- 
quimaux come hither to search for it. The annual visits 
which the Copper Indians were accustomed to make to these 
mountains, when most of their weapons and utensils were 
made of copper, have been discontinued since they have 
been enabled to obtain a supply of ice-chisels and other in- 
struments of iron, by the establishment of trading-posts near 
their hunting-grounds."* — P. 340. 

They now descended to that part of the river named 
by Hearne the Bloody Fall. This rapid is described as 
a sort of shelving cascade, about three hundred yards -in 
length, having a descent of from ten to fifteen feet, and 
bounded on each, side by high walls of red sandstone, 
upon which rests a series of lofty green hills. Here 
they caught forty excellent salmon and white fish, in a 
single net, below the rapid. No trees had been seen in 
this day's journey ; but the ground is well clothed with 
grass, and nourishes most of the shrubs and berry-bear- 
ing plants that were met with north of Fort Enterprise. 

After much discussion, and great apprehension on the 
part of the Indians and voyagers, regarding the hostility 
of the Esquimaux, in order to allay their fears, Junius 
and Augustus were sent on to have a communication 
with them ; a very small party were fallen in with at the 
rapid described by Hearne, their usual resort ; they 
found them to be mild, peaceable creatures, and but too 
glad to be on terms of friendship with the Indians. They 
consisted only of four men and as many women, who at 
night disappeared, having seen, it is supposed, some of 
Akaitcho's Indians, who had unauthorizedly followed, 
contrary to their chief's promise, and shown themselves 
on the hills. It w T as at this place where Hearne de- 
scribes the dreadful massacre of the Esquimaux by the 

* Among Dr. Richardson's Geognostical Observations, a circumstan- 
tial account of the Copper Mountains will be foimd. — Appendix, No. 1. 



256 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

Chipewyan Indians, and therefore named it the " Bloody 
Fall." On Franklin and the party approaching it and 
encamping, nine Esquimaux appeared on the opposite 
bank of the river, carrying their canoes on their backs ; 
but they fled on seeing the tents. Not only were these 
people alarmed, but the Indians also were so terrified 
that they insisted on returning the next day ; nor could 
Franklin prevail on two hunters to remain with him. 
The reduced party, however, proceeded, and on the 18th 
of July reached the sea-coast at the mouth of the Cop- 
per Mine River, it being only nine miles from the Bloody 
Fall. The Canadian voyagers were amused with their 
first view of the sea, and the seals swimming about, but 
soon gave way to despondency ; they were terrified at 
the idea of a voyage through an icy sea in bark canoes. 
Hepburn's remarks, however, and the way in which he 
held up to them the delights of his accustomed element, 
made them ashamed of their fears. The party who pro- 
ceeded amounted to twenty persons. The traveling dis- 
tance from Fort Enterprise to the mouth of the river is 
said to be about three hundred and thirty -four miles. 
The canoes and baggage were dragged over snow and 
ice for one hundred and seventeen miles of this distance. 
They encamped at ten on the western bank, at its junc- 
tion with the sea. The river is here about a mile wide, 
but very shallow. High and numerous islands to sea- 
ward fill the horizon in several points of the compass; 
the water was decidedly salt, and Franklin thinks that 
Hearne could have tasted it only at the mouth of the 
river, as he pronounced it merely brackish. 

The embarcation in two birch-bark canoes for a navi- 
gation along the southern coast of the Polar Sea to the 
eastward, and the commencement of the voyage, took 
place on the 21st of July, their dried meat and other pro- 
visions amounting only to fifteen days' consumption. 
They paddled all day along the coast, within a crowded 
range of islands, with very little ice ; the coast covered 
with vegetation ; the islands rocky and barren ; abund- 
ance of drift-wood ; and as none comes down the Cop- 
per Mine River, nor down any other, except Macken- 
zie's River, it was inferred that an easterly current pre- 
vailed. The least depth of water, after two days' sail- 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON^ JOURNEY. 257 

mg, was six fathoms, and any ship might pass safely be- 
tween the islands and the main. After a run of thirty- 
seven miles, they encamped ; the coast well covered with 
vegetation of moderate height, and easy of approach. 
To two groups of islands the names of Berens and Sir 
Graham Moore were given. Some muscle-shells were 
seen here, the only shells met with on the whole coast. 
On the 22d the shore became exceedingly roeky and ster- 
ile, ending in a, steep projecting promontory margined 
with ice. Another group of islands was named Lawford. 

Gn the 23d and 24th, nothing material ; a deer was 
killed ; the current was running to the eastward at the 
rate of two miles an hour. 

25th. Thunder and rain during the night; the nets 
supplied only three salmon-trout. For the last two days 
the tide rose and fell about nine inches. 

26th. A dreary coast ; encamped in an inlet, into which 
much ice had drifted, and one of the canoes got enclosed 
in it. " That none of this ice survives the summer was 
evident from the rapidity of its decay, and because no 
ice of last year's formation was hanging on the rocks." 
Detention Harbor is stated to be a secure anchorage, 
sheltered front eveiy wind, but it does not appear to be 
noticed on the chart. 

28th. Discovered, to their great mortification, that 
two bags of pemmican had become moldy ; that the 
beef was scarcely eatable ; but it was not so much the 
quality as the diminution that was the cause of uneasi- 
ness. A small vein of galena was discovered traversing 
gneiss rocks, but they had no means of smelting it for 
balls. The next day they crossed the mouth of a bay fill- 
ed with ice, and on the 

30th, Another bay, which they named Arctic Sound, 
with a river at the bottom of it, to which Franklin gave 
the name of Hood, " as a small tribute to the memory 
of our lamented friend and companion." Their provi- 
sion being now reduced to eight days' consumption, it be- 
came necessary to seek a supply. The hunters were 
therefore sent on shore. 

August 1st. The hunters returned with two small 
deer and a brown bear. They were now, and, in point 
of fact, had been some time, coasting and landing on the 
17 Y 2 



258 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

shore of a very wide and deep gulf, with numerous inlets 
issuing in various directions, with creeks and rivers 
branching out from and others running into them. In 
the present situation of the party, living from hand to 
mouth, and without any certainty of a supply, nothing 
more than an outline could be taken of these inlets, from 
twenty to sixty miles deep ; but pains appear to have 
been bestowed by Franklin, Back, and Hood to make 
them as correct as time would allow. One of these nu- 
merous branches was named Melville, and is stated to be 
thirty miles from east to west, and twenty from north to 
south ; and Bathurst's Inlet is not less than seventy 
miles long. These, however, as occasional receptacles 
of ice, are not to be considered as refuge harbors for 



Having surrounded this gulf, called Coronation Gulf 
on the chart, Franklin, Richardson, and Back walked 
along the southern coast of the Polar Sea ten miles, and 
finding its trending to be still to the east, they named 
the spot Point Turn-again, being well satisfied that it 
was more than probable this point would prove the ter- 
mination of the voyage. " It was evident," says Frank- 
lin, "that the time spent in exploring the Arctic and 
Melville Sounds, and Bathurst's Inlet (all branching out 
of and a portion of the great gulf), had precluded the 
hope of reaching Repulse Bay, which at the outset of the 
voyage we had fondly cherished ; and it was equally ob- 
vious that, as our distance from any of the trading estab- 
lishments would increase as we proceeded, the hazard- 
ous traverse across the barren grounds which we should 
have to make, if compelled to abandon the canoes upon 
any part of the coast, would become greater." But tbe 
greatest hazard of all, and it was wofully experienced, 
was the miserable pittance of provisions remaining. 

Many circumstances concurred to convince the party 
that farther exploration Would be vain, one of the canoes 
being already rendered useless, and the second nearly as 
bad ; the quantity of pemmican was reduced to three 
days' consumption, and apprehensions for their safety 
had seriously possessed the minds of the voyagers and 
interpreters. A violent storm and its effect on the sea 
did nbt increase their desire of remaining longer. 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON S JOURNEY. 259 

" Though it will appear from the chart," says Frank- 
lin, "-that the position of Point Turn-again is only six 
degrees and a half to the east of the mouth of the Cop- 
per Mine River, we sailed, in tracing the deeply-indent- 
ed coast, five hundred and fifty-five geographical miles, 
which is little less than the direct distance between the 
Copper Mine River and Repulse Bay, supposing the lat- 
ter to be in the longitude assigned to it by Middleton." 

Captain Franklin mentions that Arctic Sound appear- 
ed the most convenient, and, perhaps, the best place for 
ships to anchor that he had seen along the coast, at this 
season especially, when they might increase their stock 
of provision if supplied with good marksmen. Deer are 
numerous in its vicinity ; musk-oxen also may be found 
up Hood's River, and the fine, sandy bottom of the bays 
promises favorably for fishing with the sein. The hills 
on the western side are even in their outline, and slope 
gradually to the water's edge. 

Franklin farther says that the portion of the sea over 
which he had passed is navigable for vessels of any size. 
The ice he met, particularly after leaving Detention 
Harbor, would not have arrested a strong boat. The 
chain of islands affords shelter from all heavy seas, and 
there are good harbors at convenient distances. It is to 
be hoped, however, that Captain Franklin, on his pres- 
ent voyage, may not be driven to seek shelter, with the 
Erebus and Terror, in any part of the southern coast of 
the Polar Sea. 

The arrangement made for returning by the way he 
had come Captain Franklin now perceived would not be 
advisable. The country between Cape Barrow and 
Copper Mine River would not supply their wants ; the 
canoes were unfit to encounter the sea ; the bad season 
was rapidly advancing, when heavy gales were to be ex- 
pected. " I determined, therefore," he says, " to make 
at once for Arctic Sound, where game had been found 
more plentiful than in any other place ; and entering 
Hood's River, to advance up it as far as navigable, and 
then to construct small canoes out of the materials of the 
larger and damaged ones, which could be carried, in 
crossing the barren grounds, to Fort Enterprise." They 



260 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

20th of this month, the pools of water frozen over, the 
ground covered with snow, and the thermometer down 
to the freezing-point at midday. The hunters went 
out, but saw no animals. " We made a scanty meal 
off a handful of pemmican, after which only a half a bag 
remained." 

Bad as the canoes had become, and boisterous as the 
weather was, these voyagers contrived to paddle across 
the arms of lakes and inlets within the great gulf; but 
there was no game to be had ; the berries, however, 
were ripe and plentiful ; and, with the addition of some 
country tea {Ledum palustre), furnished a supper. Hav- 
ing crossed the eastern entrance of Bathurst's Inlet to 
an island, the deer were found to be plentiful, and two 
were killed. The wind changed to a quarter which en- 
abled the party to steer for Hood's River, from the mouth 
of which they ascended as high as the first rapid, and 
encamped. This was on the 26th of August; "and 
here," says Franklin, " terminated our voyage on the 
Arctic Sea, during which we had gone over six hundred 
and fifty geographical miles." " Our Canadian voya- 
gers," he adds, "could not restrain their joy at having 
turned their backs on the sea, and they spent the even- 
ing in talking over then* past adventures, with much hu- 
mor and no little exaggeration. It is due to their char- 
acter to mention that they displayed much courage in 
encountering the dangers of the sea, magnified to them 
by their novelty." 

At a few miles up Hood's River, it runs for about a 
mile through a narrow chasm, the walls of which are 
upward of two hundred feet in height, and quite per- 
pendicular. Through this chasm the river precipitates 
itself in two magnificent falls, close to each, other. Frank- 
'".i named these cascades " Wilberforce Falls," as a trib- 
ute of his respect for that distinguished Christian phi- 
lanthropist. The large canoes not being suited to this 
river, two smaller ones were constructed out of their 
materials, each sufficient to contain three persons, to be 
used for the purpose of crossing any river that might ob- 
struct their progress. 

The construction of the new canoes detained them 
till the 1st of September when it was decided to make 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON^ JOURNEY. 261 

a direct line to Point Lake, distant only 149 niiles in a 
straight line from where they were. Having proceeded 
twelve miles, a snow-storm obliged them to encamp, and 
on the 3d the last piece of pemmican and a little arrow- 
root were distributed for supper. The violence of the 
storm continued till the 7th ; and for several days, hav- 
ing nothing to eat, and no means of making a fire, they 
remained whole days in bed. The wind continued so 
strong and the weather so severe, that there was no 
chance of getting on. A temperature of 20°, without 
fire, the party weak from fasting, their garments stiff- 
ened by frost, and the ground covered with ice and snow, 
rendered their condition very unfit for traveling in such 
a country. On trying to proceed, Franklin was seized 
with a fainting-fit, in consequence of exhaustion and sud- 
den exposure to the wind, but on eating a morsel of port- 
able soup he recovered. " I was unwilling," says this 
brave fellow, " at first to take this morsel of soup, which 
was diminishing the small and only remaining meal for 
the party, but several of the men urged me to it with 
much kindness." The canoe-carriers were frequently 
blown down, and one of these machines was broken to 
pieces, which, however, was turned to the best account, 
by making a fire of it to cook the remnant of portable 
soup and arrow-root : a scanty meal after three days' 
fasting, but it served to allay the pangs of hunger. 

The next two days the surface of the barren grounds 
was covered with large stones, bearing a lichen which 
the Canadians call tripe de roche, or rock-tripe, a sub- 
stance to which the present travelers may be said to owe 
their safety and existence ; without it they must have 
died of starvation. By botanists this plant is called Gy- 
rophora, from its circular form, and the surface of the 
leaf being marked with curved lines, and of which Dr. 
Richardson has described and engraved four species, 
with this observation : " We used all four as articles of 
food ; but, not having the means of extracting the bitter 
principle from them, they proved nauseous to all, and 
noxious to several of the party, producing severe bowel 
complaints." This, with half a partridge to each, fur- 
nished their supper. 

On the 8th the passage of a river was effected by 



262 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

means of a range of large rocks at the foot of a rapid. 
The people who carried heavy burdens mostly slipped 
into the stream, and were drenched from head to foot ; 
and all being wet to the middle, and the thermometer at 
17°, their clothes became stiff with the frost, disabling 
them from walking without much pain. 

On the 10th they came upon a herd of musk-oxen, of 
which the hunters killed one of the largest, a cow, which 
infused spirit into the starving party. " This," says 
Franklin, "was the sixth day since we had enjoyed a 
good meal ; the tripe de roche, even where we got enough, 
only serving to allay the pangs of hunger for a short 
time." 

On the 12th the severity of the weather abated, so as 
to allow them to go forward, but the whole party com- 
plained of faintness, and of more weakness than they 
had ever before done. Their supper consisted of a sin- 
gle partridge, accompanied with some rock-tripe, which 
afforded little relief, and the latter had become quite 
nauseous to all, and in several produced bowel complaints, 
to Mr. Hood in particular. It was now obvious that the 
whole party were getting weaker every day. It was 
discovered also that some of them had thrown away the 
fishing-nets and burned the floats, depriving them, by 
this thoughtless act, of the means of obtaining a supply 
of fish, which might be expected while coasting the mar- 
gins of the several lakes they would have to pass. 

On the morning of the 14th, while the officers were 
assembled round a small fire, Perrault, one of the voya- 
gers, presented each of them with a small piece of meat, 
which he had saved from his allowance. " It was re- 
ceived," says Franklin, "with great thankfulness, and 
such an act of self-denial and kindness, being totally un 
expected in a Canadian voyager, filled our eyes with 
tears." On the same day, Franklin, St. Germain, and 
Belanger embarked in the remaining canoe to cross a 
river, and when in the midst of it, the current and a 
strong breeze drove the canoe to the very brink of a tre- 
mendous rapid, of which a most frightful account is 
given : Belanger, unluckily, applied his paddle to avert 
the danger of being forced down the rapid ; he lost his 
balance, the canoe overset in the midst of the rapid, but 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON^ JOURNEY. 263 

the party kept hold of it till it came in contact with a 
rock, on which the water was not higher than their 
waists. Belanger remained on the rock ; the other 
two, on the third attempt, got to the shore. After 
many fruitless attempts, a small line was thrown to Bel- 
anger, and he was dragged through the rapid in a per- 
fectly senseless state, from which, by the attention of 
Dr. Richardson, he was, after a long time, recovered. 
By this accident Franklin lost his portfolio, containing 
his journal and observations from Fort Enterprise ; but 
the loss, he sajs, was well supplied by his companions, 
Richardson, Back, and Hood. 

On the 16th and 17th, by passing over a rugged 
country, their toil and suffering were greatly increased ; 
on the latter day they had no breakfast, and but a scanty 
supper, yet Franklin says they allayed the pangs of 
hunger by pieces of singed hide and a little tripe de 
roche. " These would have satisfied us in ordinary 
times, but we were now almost exhausted by slender 
fare and travel, and our appetites had become ravenous. 
We looked, however, with humble confidence to the 
Great Author and Giver of all good, for a continuance 
of the support which had hitherto been always supplied 
to us at our greatest need." 

On the 18th, Franklin says, "the want of tripe de 
roche caused us to go supperless to bed." The next 
day they came to a spot where there was some of that 
weed, which they collected, and breakfasted on. Mr. 
Hood was now so feeble that Dr. Richardson walked 
with him at a gentle pace in the rear of the party. " In 
the evening," says Franklin, ■" we had a small quantity 
of the tripe, and the rest of our supper was made up of 
scraps of roasted leather ;" and he adds, " previous to 
setting out, the whole party ate the remains of their 
old shoes, and whatever scraps of leather they had, to 
strengthen their stomachs for the fatigue of the day's 
journey." 

The 19th supplied them only with Iceland moss, 
boiled for their supper, which, not being soaked, proved 
too bitter to be taken in more than a few spoonfuls ; no 
rock-tripe was to be found. On this day one of the 
renewed canoes was broken by the fall of the person 



264 ARCTIC VOYAGES, 

who had it in charge. For several days after this then- 
progress was slow, over a hilly country, and the men 
became impatient, and so indifferent, that the two who 
had the charge of the only remaining canoe left it be- 
hind, urging an excuse that it had a fall, was completely 
broken, and useless. They refused to return and bring 
it up, broken as it was ; they refused to make any ex- 
ertion, and acted as if they had given up all hope of 
preservation. 

On the 21st the men took it into their heads that the 
party had lost their way, and a gloom was spread over 
every countenance. Dr. Richardson had suffered so- 
much from cold, fatigue, and hunger as to be obliged to 
deposit his specimens of plants and minerals, collected 
on the sea-coast, being unable to carry them any farther. 

Things continued in this deplorable state till the 24th., 
when the killing of five small deer out of a large herd 
reanimated the drooping spirits of the men, and they 
asked for a day's rest, which was considered reasonable 
enough, that the quiet enjoyment of two substantial 
meals, after eight day's famine, might enable them to 
proceed more vigorously. On the 26th they reached a. 
branch of the Copper Mine River ; and now, for the 
first time, the people were convinced of their folly in 
breaking the two canoes. 

Back, the most active and vigorous of the party, was- 
sent forward with some of the hunters to apprise the 
people at Fort Enterprise of the approach of the rest. 
Credit and Junius followed them also to hunt. Credit 
returned, but Junius v/as missing, and was never after 
heard of. Several days were here lost in making a raft 
of willows, which was finished by the 29th, but all at- 
tempts to convey the raft across the stream failed, and 
the scheme was considered hopeless : the raft, moreo- 
ver, was of green wood, and the want of poles or pad- 
dles rendered the moving of it on the water impractica- 
ble. Yet it was of the utmost importance to cross the 
river, as any attempt to go round the lakes would be 
sure destruction to the whole party, in their famished 
and worn down state ; two of them, having been utterly 
unable to proceed, were left behind. 

" In this hopeless condition with certain starvation staring 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON S JOURNEY. 265 

them in the face, Dr. Richardson, actuated by the noble de- 
sire of making a last effort for the safety of the party, and of 
relieving his suffering companions from a state of misery, 
which could only terminate, and that speedily, in death, vol- 
unteered to make the attempt to swim across the stream, car 
rying with him a line by which the raft might be hauled over. 
" He lanched into the stream with the line round his mid- 
dle, but when he had got to a short distance from the oppo- 
site bank, his arms became benumbed with cold, and he lost 
the power of moving them ; still he persevered, and turning 
on his back, had nearly gained the opposite shore, when his 
legs also became powerless, and, to our infinite alarm, we be- 
held him sink. We instantly hauled upon the fine, and he 
came again on the surface, and was gradually drawn ashore 
in an almost lifeless state. Being rolled up in blankets, he 
was placed before a good fire of willows, and, fortunately, 
was just able to speak sufficiently to give some slight direc- 
tions respecting the manner of treating him. He recovered 
srrength gradually, and, through the blessing of God, was ena- 
bled in the course of a few hours to converse, and by the 
evening was sufficiently recovered to remove into the tent. 
We then regretted to leam that the skin of his whole left 
side was deprived of feeling, in consequence of exposure to 
too great heat. He did not perfectly recover the sensation 
of that side until the following summer. I can not describe 
what every one felt at beholding the skeleton which the doc- 
tor's debilitated frame exhibited. When he stripped, the 
Canadians simultaneously exclaimed, l Ah ! que nous sommes 
maigres /' I shall best explain his state and that of the party 
by the following extract from his journal : ' It may be wor- 
thy of remark, that I should have had little hesitation in any 
former period of my life at plunging into water even below 
38° Fahrenheit, but at this time I was reduced almost to 
skin and bone, and, like the rest of the party, suffered from 
degrees of cold that would have been disregarded in health 
ana vigor. During the whole of our march we experienced 
that no quantity of clothing would keep us warm while we 
fasted ; but on those occasions on which we were enabled to 
go to bed with full stomachs, we passed the night in a warm 
and comfortable manner.' " Franklin adds, " In following the 
detail of our friend's narrow escape, I have omitted to men- 
tion, that when he was about to step into the water he put 
his foot on a dagger, which cut him to the bone ; but this 
misfortune could not stop him from attempting the execution 
of his generous undertaking." — P. 424, 425. 

Eight large fagots of dry willows were now prepared, 
Z 



266 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

and found to be buoyant, and a cheerful supper of rock- 
tripe gave confidence to the desponding people for a 
time ; but nothing came in from the hunters, except 
that one of them brought in the antlers and back-bone 
of a deer, which the wolves and birds of prey had picked 
clean, a small quantity of the spinal marrow only remain- 
ing. This, though putrid, was esteemed a valuable 
prize, and was distributed in equal portions, but found 
to be so acrid as to excoriate the lips ; the bones, made 
friable by burning, were also eaten. Augustus and 
Back returned, having traced the shore of the lake fif- 
teen miles, and, despairing of continuing the tour of it, 
thought it best to attempt to cross the river at this 
place. 

They were now reduced to the last degree of starva- 
tion, the men again extremely despondent ; a settled 
gloom hung over them : they refused to collect rock- 
tripe, preferring to fast rather than to make any exer- 
tion. The river was still to be crossed, and the willow- 
raft having failed, a canoe was to be made from the 
rafts and covered with canvas, but was not yet finished. 
In short, the extreme degree of starvation was at hand. 
Franklin thus describes their deplorable condition : 

" I set out with the intention of going to St. Germain to 
hasten his operations, but though it was only three quarters of 
a mile distant, I spent three hours in a vain attempt to reach 
him, my strength being unequal to the labor of wading through 
the deep snow, and I returned quite exhausted and much 
shaken by the numerous falls I had got. My associates were 
all in the same debilitated state ; and poor Hood was reduced 
to a perfect shadow, from the severe bowel complaints which 
the tripe de roche never failed to give him. Back was so 
feeble as to require the support of a stick in walking ; and 
Dr. Richardson had lameness superadded to weakness. The 
voyagers were somewhat stronger than ourselves, but more 
indisposed to exertion, on account of their despondency. The 
sensation of hunger was no longer felt by any of us, yet we 
were scarcely able to converse upon any other subject than 
the pleasures of eating. We were much indebted to Hep- 
burn at this crisis. The officers were unable, from weakness, 
to gather tripe de roche themselves, and Samandre, who had 
acted as our cook on the journey from the coast, sharing in 
the despair of the rest of the Canadians, refused to make the 
slightest exertion. Hepburn, on the contrary, animated by a 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON S JOURNEY. ^67 



firm reliance on the beneficence of the Supreme Being, tern 
pered with resignation to His will, was indefatigable in Ms 
exertions to serve us, and daily collected all the tripe de roche 
that was used in the officers' mess." — P. 427, 428. 

On the 4th of October they all safely landed on the 
southern bank of the river, one at a time, the canoe 
being drawn back again in succession till all were got 
over, without any serious accident. Yet several of the 
men were wholly unable to proceed a day's journey, 
and three or four had fallen or lay down, and were left 
behind. Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood, with their 
usual feelings of humanity, proposed to remain to take 
care of, and to bring up, the disabled to a spot where 
there was a thicket of willows and a supply of rock- 
tripe. John Hepburn, the kindest of mortals, volun- 
teered to remain with them ; but, though his assistance 
was too much needed elsewhere, Franklin, with his 
characteristic feeling, suffered him to remain, as being 
the best assistant Dr. Richardson could have in taking 
care of those who were disabled. Franklin was most 
unwilling to part with any of his comrades, but saw the 
necessity of doing so. " And after," he says, " we had 
united in thanksgiving and prayers to Almighty God, I 
separated from my companions, deeply afflicted that a 
train of melancholy circumstances should have demand- 
ed of me the severe trial of parting, in such a condition, 
from friends who had become endeared to me by their 
constant kindness and co-operation, and a participation 
of numerous sufferings." The parting took place on the 
7th of October, at the distance of about twenty-four 
miles from Fort Enterprise. 

The party who proceeded with Captain Franklin 
consisted of eight persons. Two of the Canadians, Bel- 
anger and Michel, on the first day's journey declared 
themselves unable to proceed, and begged most earn- 
estly to go back to the party left behind, which was 
granted. Two more were seized with dizziness, and 
betrayed other symptoms of extreme debility; one of 
them, bursting into tears, declared his inability to go on, 
and the other, the next day, was completely exhausted ; 
each, at his own request, was permitted to return to 
Dr. Richardson's encampment, where fire and rock- 



268 arctic voyages. 

tripe were to be obtained. One of them, however 
(Michel, the Iroquois), only arrived ; the other three 
were no more heard of; and fortunate indeed would it 
have been if the survivor had perished with the rest. 

Franklin's party was now reduced to five ; the last 
that parted from him was one of the most faithful, and 
for whom he had a sincere regard ; his name was Anto- 
nio Fontano, an Italian, who had served many years in 
De Meuron's regiment. The poor fellow, on taking 
leave, had entreated Franklin, should he survive, to take 
him to England, to put him in the way of reaching home. 
The five remaining were Franklin, Adam, Peltier, Be- 
noit, and Samandre. The sufferings on the journey met 
with no alleviation till that of the last day, when they 
enjoyed the comfort of a large fire, the first deserving 
that name since leaving the coast ; but there was no 
" tripe de roche ; " and we drank tea and ate some of 
our shoes for supper." " The next morning," he says, 
" with our minds agitated between hope and fear, we 
went silently forward, but on Teaching the long and ar- 
dently wished-for Fort Enterprise, to our infinite disap- 
pointment and grief, we found it a perfectly desolate hab- 
itation ; no provisions — no Wentzel — not a trace of any 
living animal." A note from Back only stated that he 
had arrived two days before, and was looking for the In- 
dians. This was so unsatisfactory, that Franklin decid- 
ed coolly and deliberately to go himself in a few days, 
with Benoit and Augustus,* to Fort Providence. In the 
mean time, it was absolutely necessary to look out for 
something to subsist upon, and " we were gratified," he 
says, "to find several deer skins which had been thrown 
away during our former residence ; the bones were gath- 
ered from the heap of ashes ; these, with the skins, and 
the addition of tripe de roche, we considered would sup- 
port us tolerably well for a time." In a few days Frank- 
lin set out on his journey, but found himself so weak as 
to have gone only four miles in six hours ; the next morn- 
ing he fell between two rocks, and broke his snow-shoes ; 
finding himself so exhausted, he let his two companions 

* Augustus was not one of the five who proceeded to this place. On 
their departure Franklin says, " Augustus did not make his appearance, 
but we felt no alarm at his absence." No doubt he had followed alone 
to the fort, and Franklin omitted to notice his arrival. 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON S JOURNEY. 269 



proceed in search of the Indians, and returned to his 
miserable home. Miserable indeed it was ; two of the 
three left behind were unable to quit their beds, and they 
scarcely ceased from shedding tears the whole day. " I 
was too weak to pound the bones, and Peltier (the third) 
agreed to do that in addition to his more fatiguing task 
of getting wood. We perceived our strength to decline 
every day, and every exertion began to be irksome ; when 
once seated, the greatest effort was necessary in order 
to rise, and we had frequently to lift each other from our 
seats." 

Eighteen days were passed in this miserable condition, 
which had increased from day to day, with the prospect, 
however, of a speedy termination, for the weather had 
set in so severely that the tripe de roche was entirely 
frozen, the thermometer being from 15° to 20° below 
zero. Just then, Franklin says, 

" While we were seated round the fire this evening, dis- 
coursing about the anticipated relief, the conversation was 
suddenly interrupted by Peltier's exclaiming, with joy, ' Ah ! 
le monde !' imagining that he heard the Indians in the other 
room ; immediately afterward Dr. Richardson and Hepburn 
entered, each carrying his bundle. When I saw them alone, 
my own mind was instantly filled with apprehensions respect- 
ing my friend Hood and our other companions, which were 
immediately confirmed by the doctor's melancholy commu- 
nication that Mr. Hood and Michel were dead. Perrault 
and Fontano had neither reached the tent nor been heard 
of by them. This intelligence produced a melancholy de- 
spondency in the minds of my party, and on that account 
the particulars were deferred until another opportunity." — 
P. 446. 

The emaciated countenances of the doctor and Hep- 
burn gave evidence of their debilitated state. " The 
doctor particularly remarked the sepulchral tones of our 
voices, which he requested of us to make more cheer- 
ful, if possible, unconscious that his own partook of the 
same key." A partridge which Hepburn had shot was 
held to the fire, and then divided into six portions. " I 
and my three companions," says Franklin, " ravenously 
devoured our shares, as it was the first morsel of flesh 
any of us had tasted for thirty-one days, unless, indeed, 
the small, gristly particles which we found occasionally 
Z 2 



270 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

adhering to the pounded bones may be termed flesh." 
Piety and resignation under calamity are characteristics 
of the naval profession ; and on the present occasion of 
distress we are told, " the doctor having brought with 
him his Prayer-book and Testament, some prayers and 
psalms, and portions of Scripture appropriate to our sit- 
uation, were read, and we retired to bed." Franklin 
says : 

" After our usual supper of singed skin and bone soup, 
Dr. Richardson acquainted nie with the afflicting circum- 
stances attending the death of Mr. Hood and Michel, and 
detailed the occurrences subsequent to my departure from 
them, which I shall give from his own journal, in his own 
words ; but I must here be permitted to express the heart- 
felt sorrow with which I was overwhelmed at the loss of 
so many companions ; especially of my friend Mr. Hood, to 
whose zealous and able co-operation I had been indebted for 
so much invaluable assistance during the expedition, while 
the excellent qualities of his heart engaged my warmest re- 
gard. His scientific observations, together with his maps and 
drawings (a small part of which only appear in this work), 
evince a variety of talent, which, had his life been spared, 
must have rendered him a distinguished ornament to his pro- 
fession, and which will cause his death to be felt as a loss to 
the service."— P. 448. 

The melancholy tale of disasters that had befallen the 
party Franklin left behind is most heart-rending, and is 
feelingly given in the narrative of Dr. Richardson, which 
is thus introduced : 

" Through the extreme kindness and forethought of a lady, 
the party, previous to leaving London, had been furnished 
with a small collection of religious books, of which we still 
retained two or three of the most portable, and they proved 
of incalculable benefit to us. We read portions of them to 
each other as we lay in bed, in addition to the morning and 
evening service, and found that they inspired us on each pe- 
rusal with so strong a sense of the omnipresence of a benefi- 
cent God, that our situation, even in these wilds, appeared no 
longer destitute ; and we conversed, not only with calmness, 
but with cheerfulness, detailing with unrestrained confidence 
the past events of our lives, and dwelling with hope on our 
future prospects. Had my poor friend been spared to revisit 
his native land, I should look back to this period with unal- 
loyed delight."— P. 449. 

The same kind of distress and suffering which afflict- 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON^ JOURNEY. 2?1 

ed the party at Fort Enterprise, were deeply aggrava- 
ted by want of fire, of wood, and of ability to provide 
sustenance, by the coldness of the weather, and by the 
extreme debility of poor Hood. On the first two days 
they had nothing to eat except an infusion of the coun- 
try tea-plant, which was gratifying from its warmth, but 
afforded no sustenance ; the second day was so stormy, 
and the snow fell so heavy, that they kept their beds, if 
a few miserable skins and their clothing deserved the 
name. On the third day, Michel, the Iroquois, brought 
them a hare and partridge : " This unexpected supply," 
says Richardson, " was received by us with a deep sense 
of gratitude to the Almighty, and we looked upon Michel 
as the instrument he had chosen to preserve all our lives." 
He complained of cold, and Mr. Hood offered to share 
his buffalo robe with him at night ; the doctor gave him 
a shirt, and Hepburn, in the warmth of his heart, ex- 
claimed, " How I shall love this man, if I find he does 
not tell lies, like the others !" Hepburn had studied the 
man, and found cause to suspect him. The party this 
day, after reading the evening service, retired to bed full 
of hope. Nothing, it may be observed, like desponden- 
cy, not even a murmur, ever escaped from their lips. 

With great fatigue, Richardson and Hepburn, with 
Hood, removed to a wood of pines, to enable them to 
keep up a fire. The Iroquois was absent. He had, in- 
deed, refused for some days to do any thing, became sul- 
ky, and still continued so powerful, that it was strongly 
suspected he had a hidden supply of meat for his own 
use. Seeing the enduring obstinacy and refractory spirit 
of this man, and his positive refusal even to collect tripe 
de roche, now their sole dependence, or to get firewood, 
the doctor told him, that if no relief came from Fort En- 
terprise before the 20th, Hepburn and he should be dis- 
patched thither with a compass to enable them to find 
the house. 

But at last a grave suspicion arose against this man. 
On the evening of his arrival at the pines, he pretended 
he had been in chase of some deer, but could not come 
up with them ; yet he found a wolf, which had been 
killed by the stroke of a deer's horn, and he had brought 
them a part of it. 



272 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

" We implicitly believed this story then, but afterward be- 
came convinced, from circumstances, the detail of which may 
be spared, that it must have been a portion of the body of 
Belanger or Perrault. A question of moment here presents 
itself, namely, whether he actually murdered these men, or 
either of them, or whether he found the bodies in the snow. 
Franklin, who is the best able to judge of the matter, from 
knowing their situation in the snow at parting, was strongly 
of opinion that both Belanger and Perrault had been sacri- 
ficed ; that Michel, having already destroyed Belanger, com- 
pleted, his crime by Perrault's death in order to screen him- 
self from detection. With this idea upon our minds, and 
none to assist us, Hepburn and myself, in gathering as much 
tripe de roclie as sufficed to prolong a miserable existence, 
and poor Hood getting weaker every day, and evidently 
sinking fast, our situation can better be conceived than ex- 
pressed. 

" At this period we avoided as much as possible convers- 
ing upon the hopelessness of our situation, and generally en- 
deavored to lead the conversation toward our future pros- 
pects in life. The fact is, that, with the decay of our 
strength, our mind3 decayed, and we were no longer able to 
bear the contemplation of the horrors that surrounded us. 
Each of us, if I may be allowed to judge from my own case, 
excused himself from so doing by a' desire of not shocking 
the feelings of the others, for we were sensible of one anoth- 
er's weakness of intellect, though blind to our own. Yet we 
were calm and resigned to our fate ; not a murmur escaped 
us, and we were punctual and fervent in our addresses to the 
Supreme Being." — P. 454. 

The whole conduct of this man Michel, by Dr. Rich- 
ardson's account, evinced a diabolical state of mind. He 
went out alone, refusing to let any one go with him ; re- 
mained out the whole day, refusing to sleep in the tent ; 
returned contradictoiy and evasive answers to any ques- 
tions put to him ; regretted he had quitted Franklin's 
party, and refused to cut wood ; spoke in a veiy surly 
manner, and threatened to leave the party. 

On the morning of the 20th Dr. Richardson says he 
left Mr. Hood sitting by the fire and arguing with Mi- 
chel. " Soon after going out," says Richardson, " to 
gather some rock-tripe, I heard the report of a gun ; and 
about ten minutes afterward Hepburn called to me in a 
voice of great alarm to come directly. When I arrived, 
I found poor Hood lying lifeless at the fireside, a ball hav- 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON^ JOURNEY. 273 

ing apparently entered his forehead. I was at first hor- 
ror-struck with the idea that, in a fit of despondency, he 
had hurried himself into the presence of his Almighty 
Judge by an act of his own hand ; but the conduct of 
Michel soon gave rise to other thoughts, and excited sus- 
picions which were confirmed when, upon examining the 
body, I discovered that the shot had entered the back 
part of the head, and passed out at the forehead, and 
that the muzzle of the gun had been applied so close as 
to set fire to the night-cap behind. The gun, from its 
length, could not have been placed in a position to inflict 
such a wound except by a second person. On question- 
ing the Iroquois, he said Mr. Hood had sent him into the 
tent for the short gun, and in his absence the long gun 
had gone oflf, he did not know whether by accident or 
not. Hepburn said that, on hearing the report, he saw 
Michel rising up before the tent door, or just behind 
where Mr. Hood was seated, and then go into the tent. 
Every cue umstance before and after this event indicated 
the assassin." For the three following days he kept con- 
stantly on his guard, and carefully avoided leaving the 
doctor and Hepburn together. He even made use of 
threatening language ; and whenever Hepburn spoke, he 
asked him if he accused him of the murder. He said 
he hated the white people, two of whom had killed and 
eaten his uncle and two of his relations. 

Taking the whole conduct of this man into considera- 
tion, no other conclusion could be drawn than that he 
would attempt to destroy Hiehardson and Hepburn the 
first opportunity that offered. The two were in no 
condition to resist even an open attack, nor could they, 
by any device, escape from him ; his strength was pow- 
erful, and, besides his gun, he was armed with two pis- 
tols, an Indian bayonet, and a knife. In the afternoon 
he went to a rock under pretence of collecting tripe de 
roche, and said he would soon be with us, this being the 
first time since Mr. Hood's death that he had left the 
two officers together. Hepburn was not easily to be 
imposed upon. He gave sueh an account of the man, 
that Dr. Riehardson was satisfied there could be no 
safety for them except in his death, and Hepburn pro- 
posed to be the instrument of it 
7« 



274 ARCTIC VOYAGES, 

" I determined, however (says Richardson), as I was thor- 
oughly convinced of the necessity of such a dreadful act, to 
tike the whole responsibility upon myself ; and immediate- 
ly upon Michel's coming up, I put an end to his life by shoot- 
ing him through the head with a pistol. Had my own life 
alone been threatened, I would not have purchased it by 
such a measure ; but I considered myself as intrusted also 
with the protection of Hepburn, a man who, by his humane 
attention and devotedness, had so endeared himself to me, 
that I felt more anxiety for his safety than for my own. Mi- 
chel had gathered no tripe de roche, and it was evident to us 
that he had halted for the purpose of putting his gun in or- 
der, with the intention of attacking us, perhaps, while we 
were in the act of encamping." — P. 458. 

The loss of poor Hood was a severe blow, and Rich- 
ardson and Hepburn had the last mournful office to per- 
form over his remains by interring the body in a clump 
of willows, and reading the funeral service in addition to 
the evening prayers. 

"■ The loss of a young officer of such distinguished and va- 
ried talents and application may be felt and duly appreciated 
by the eminent characters under whose command he had 
served ; but the calmness with which he contemplated the 
probable termination of a life of uncommon promise, and the 
patience and fortitude with which he sustained, I may ven- 
ture to say, unparalleled bodily sufferings, can only be known 
to the companions of his distresses. Bickersteth' 's Scripture 
Help was lying open beside the body, as if it had fallen from 
his hand, and it is probable that he was reading it at the in- 
stant of his death.' 7 — P. 456, 457. 

Dr. Richardson says that in the preceding part of the 
narrative he has dwelt upon many circumstances of 
Michel's conduct, "not for the purpose of aggravating 
his crime, but to put the reader in possession of the 
reasons that influenced me in depriving a fellow-crea- 
ture of life." 

Six days had the two remaining desolate and unhappy 
travelers to drag themselves through deep snow, with- 
out food, and almost without any fire, existing on li- 
chens and scrapings of the skin cloak of poor Mr. Hood. 
On the fifth day Dr. Richardson fell down among large 
stones under the snow more than twenty times, and 
says, at length he became so exhausted as to be unable 
to stand. " If Hepburn had not exerted himself beyonc? 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON'S JOURNEY. 275 

his strength, and speedily made the encampment and 
kindled a fire, I must have perished on the spot." 

On the sixth day (the 29th of October) they were ap- 
proaching Fort Enterprise, and as they came in sight 
of it at dark, Dr. Richardson, in concluding his mourn- 
ful narrative, says : 

" It is impossible to describe our sensations -when, on at- 
taining the eminence that overlooks it, we beheld the smoke 
issuing from one of the chimneys. From not having met 
with any footsteps in the snow as we drew nigh our once 
cheerful residence, we had been agitated by many melan- 
choly forebodings. Upon entering the now desolate building, 
we had the satisfaction of embracing Captain Franklin ; but 
no words can convey an idea of the filth and wretchedness 
that met our eyes on looking around. Our own misery had 
stolen upon us by degrees, and we were accustomed to the 
contemplation of each other's emaciated figures ; but the 
ghastly countenances, dilated eyeballs, and sepulchral voices 
of Mr. Franklin and those with him, were more than we 
could at first bear." — P. 461. 

The melancholy situation of poor Franklin was still 
augmented, if possible, by the helpless and exhausted 
state of two of his most faithful Canadians, Peltier and 
Samandre, who died two days after the arrival of Rich- 
ardson and Hepburn, when, had they not fortunately 
come, Franklin would have been left with one solitary 
companion, sick and helpless as himself, and both so 
utterly unable to assist themselves, that eight- and-forty 
hours, nay, half that time, would probably have put an 
end to their misery. The whole labor, therefore, of 
procuring firewood, of scraping together old pieces of 
skins and fragments of bone, devolved on Richardson 
and Hepburn, whose strength had rapidly been declin- 
ing, and was nearly exhausted ; when, providentially, 
on the 7th of November, the long-expected relief ar- 
rived by three Indians, forwarded by Back. Captain 
Franklin, at this time, thus describes their condition : 

" I may here remark, that, owing to our loss of flesh, the 
hardness of the floor, from which we were only protected by 
a blanket, produced soreness over the body, and especially 
those parts on which the weight rested in lying ; yet to turn 
ourselves for relief was a matter of toil and difficulty. How- 
ever, during this period, and, indeed, all along after" the acute 
pains of hunger, which lasted but three or four days, had 



276 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

subsided, we generally enjoyed the comfort of a few hours 
sleep. The dreams "which for the most part, but not always, 
accompanied them, were usually (though not invariably) of 
a pleasant character, being very often about the enjoyments 
of feasting. In the daytime we fell into the practice of con- 
versing on common and light subjects, although we some- 
times discussed with seriousness and earnestness topics con- 
nected with religion. We generally avoided speaking di- 
rectly of our present sufferings, or even of the prospect of re- 
lief. I observed that, in proportion as our strength decayed, 
our minds exhibited symptoms of weakness, evinced by a 
kjud of unreasonable pettishness with each other. Each of 
us thought the other weaker in intellect than himself, and 
more in need of advice and assistance. So trifling a circum 
stance as a change of place, recommended by one as being 
warmer and more comfortable, and refused by the other from 
a dread of motion, frequently called forth fretful expressions, 
which were no sooner uttered than atoned for, to be repeat- 
ed, perhaps, in the course of a few minutes. The same thing 
often occurred when we endeavored to assist each other in 
carrying wood to the fire ; none of us were willing to receive 
assistance, although the task was disproportioned to our 
strength. On one of these occasions, Hepburn was so con- 
vinced of this waywardness, that he exclaimed, ' Dear me ! 
if we' are spared to return to England, I wonder if we shall 
recover our understandings !' " — P. 465, 466. 

The supplies sent by Back set all to rights, but not 
without the greatest caution against repletion. On the 
12th, a note from Back, informing them of his intention 
to proceed to Fort Providence, prepared them all, with- 
out delay, to hasten thither ; but Dr. Richardson could 
get no farther than about three miles, he being by much 
the weakest of the party. Franklin says (to the honoi 
of the Indians), it was they "who prepared our en- 
campment, cooked for us, and fed us as if we had been 
children, evincing humanity that would have done honor 
to the most civilized people." 

Mr. Back's narrative is but a continuation of the same 
kind of sufferings by famine and cold which pursued his 
footsteps. For days he and his party had nothing to 
eat ; even tripe de roche was rarely obtained ; many 
days were passed in sorrow and in suffering ere he had 
the good fortune to fall in with an Indian encampment. 
In the course of his search one of his companions was 
found dead ; " I found him," reported St. Germain, 



FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON S JOURNEY, ^77 

*' stretched upon his back on a sand-bank, frozen to 
death, his limbs all extended and swelled enormously, 
and as hard as the ice that was near him." " We had 
the happiness," says Franklin, " of joining our friend 
Mr. Back at Moose-deer Island. Our feelings tfn this 
occasion can well be imagined ; and we were deeply 
impressed with gratitude to him for his exertions in 
sending the supply of food to Fort Enterprise, to which, 
under Divine Providence, we felt the preservation of 
our lives to be owing. He gave us an affecting detail of 
the proceedings of his party since our separation." 

It remains only to state, that the whole party who 
had survived the long endurement of privation and fa- 
tigue arrived in safety at Fort Chipewyan. Here they 
arranged all their accounts to the satisfaction of those 
who had been under then* employ, Indians as well as 
Canadians, and here Captain Franklin concludes his 
painfully interesting narrative : 

" We were here furnished with a canoe by Mr. Smith, and 
a bowman to act as our guide ; and having left Fort Chipewyan 
on the 5th of June, we arrived on the 4th of July at Norway 
House. Finding at this place that canoes were about to go 
down to Montreal, I discharged all our Canadian voyagers, 
and sent them by these vessels, furnishing them with orders 
on the agent of the Hudson's Bay Company for the amount 
of their wages. We carried Augustus down to York Fac- 
tory, where we arrived on the 14th of July, and were re- 
ceived with every mark of attention and kindness by Mr. 
Simpson, the governor, Mr. M'Tavish, and, indeed, by all the 
officers of the united companies. And thus terminated our 
long, fatiguing, and disastrous travels in North America, hav- 
ing journeyed by water and by land (including our naviga- 
tion of the Polar Sea) five thousand five hundred and fifty 
miles,"— P. 493, 494. 

It is impossible to rise from the perusal, even of this 
abridged narrative, without feeling the deepest contri- 
tion, mingled with admiration, of such dignified conduct. 
It contains but a small portion of the transactions and 
adventures of these few brave spirits, who have so emi 
nently distinguished themselves by a determined perse- 
verance under difficulties of no ordinary kind ; by their 
magnanimity in bearing up under suffering and distress 
in every aggravated shape — extreme cold, fatigue, hun- 
A A 



278 ARCTIC VOYACES. 

ger in its most appalling character, want of fuel, want 
of clothing, want of covering from the inclemency of 
the weather, dragging their wearied bodies for a pro- 
tracted period over a barren country buried in deep 
snow, and bearing all their miseries without a murmur, 
and, above all, with a devout resignation to the Divine 
will, and a confident hope, in the very last extremity, 
of the goodness and mercy of their heavenly Father, 
which, in His own good time, they were fully confident 
would be extended to them. 

Such conduct, under such sufferings, supported by 
such feelings, must ever cause the names and memory 
of Sir John Franklin, Sir George Back, Mr. Hood, and 
Dr. Richardson to be held in high regard and estimation, 
in which we may be well assured every one connected 
with the naval service will cordially participate : nor will 
the unshaken fidelity and philanthropy of John Hepburn 
be less entitled to admiration and gratitude.* 

* It was gratifying to find that these brave men were not forgotten at 
headquarters in their absence, Franklin being raised to the rank of 
captain, and Mr. Back and Mr. Hood each to that of lieutenant, and hon- 
est John Hepburn placed in a comfortable situation in one of the dock- 
yards. 



FRANKLIN &c RICHARDSON^ SECOND JOURNEY. 279 



CHAPTER XI. 
FRANKLIN AND RICHARDSON. 

1825, 1826, 1827. 



Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar 
Sea. By John Franklin, Capt. R. N., Commander ot the 
Expedition. 

The mental and physical constitution of a thorough- 
bred English seaman is rarely found to give way to, or 
succumb under, misfortunes. He may suffer repeated 
shipwrecks, may be wounded in fight with the enemy, 
captured and thrown into prison, all or any of which will 
not deter him from, but rather increase his anxiety for, 
following up his profession, under the hope of more fa- 
vorable auspices. Thus, in the true spirit of a seaman, 
Captain Franklin, in spite of the almost unheard-of suf- 
ferings he endured for a long time, both mental and phys- 
ical, brought on by extreme cold, debility, and famine, 
even to death's door — with the full recollection of all 
these, could not resist the temptation of offering a plan, 
and also himself for the execution of it, to the govern- 
ment, of a second expedition of the same kind, for the 
same purpose, and over the same country, as the one 
from which he had just returned, and on which the ex- 
tent of his sufferings had all but put an end to his exist- 
ence. 

" I was well aware," says this noble-minded officer, " of 
the sympathy excited in the British public by the sufferings 
of those engaged in the former overland expedition to the 
mouth of the Copper Mine River, and of the humane repug 
nance of his majesty's government to expose others to a like 
fate; but I was enabled to show satisfactorily that in the 
proposed course similar dangers were not to be apprehended, 
while the objects to be attained were at once important to the 
naval character, scientific reputation, and commercial inter- 
ests of Great Britain ; and I received directions from the 
Right Honorable Earl Bathurst to make the necessary prep- 
arations for the equipment of the expedition, to the command 
of which I had the honor to be nominated." — Introd. y ix., x. 



280 ARCTIC VOYAGES, 

Many naval officers of distinguished talents anxiously 
offered their services, but his companions in misfortune, 
Lieutenant Back and Dr. Richardson, being among the 
foremost to volunteer, were the first to be considered ; 
the former already distinguished for his zeal and ener- 
gy in all the contingencies of an exploring voyage, and 
the latter as surgeon and naturalist, it may be said of the 
first distinction, as he had proved himself to be, and, 
moreover, a gentleman of the most benevolent and hu- 
mane disposition. The valuable services of these two 
officers on the former expedition can never be overlook- 
ed. To their energy of character and promptitude of 
action may undoubtedly, as Franklin records, be ascribed 
the safety of himself and the remaining party. Rich- 
ardson, not to forsake his former companion and fellow- 
sufferer, left a comfortable situation at home with a wife 
and family, so eager was he to complete the geography 
and the natural histoiy of the American coast which bor- 
ders the Polar Sea on its southern side. Lieutenant 
Bushnan, who had served with Ross and Parry in their 
Arctic voyages, and had distinguished himself as a 
draughtsman and surveyor, was selected as one of the 
expedition ; but the premature death of this excellent 
young officer, distinguished by his skill in nautical as- 
tronomy, surveying, and drawing, was deeply lamented 
by Franklin ; and Mr. E. N. Kendall, Admiralty mate, 
and recently assistant surveyor with Captain Lyon, was 
also appointed to the same situation in the present expe- 
dition; lastly, Mr. Thomas Drummond, of Forfar, was 
appointed assistant naturalist on the recommendaion of 
Professor Hooker and other eminent scientific men. 

In acceding to Captain Franklin's proposal, the gov- 
ernment was not unmindful of having sent out Captain 
Parry on his third expedition in the preceding year, and 
that lie might require information and assistance in the 
event of his proceeding along the American coast of the 
Polar Sea; that portion of it interjacent between Mac- 
kenzie River and Icy Cape being wholly unknown, as 
was also that between Mackenzie and Hearne's Rivers. 
The main object of the present expedition was therefore 
to explore these two portions of that coast, and was sd 
explained in the official instructions. 



FRANKLIN & RICHARDSON^ SECOND JOURNEY. 281 

In the preparations for this arduous undertaking, Cap- 
tain Franklin's experience had taught him that birch- 
bark canoes were not the vessels calculated for rough and 
icy seas, and therefore three boats of a particular size 
and construction were ordered by the Admiralty to be 
made ; and when finished, and tried at Woolwich as to 
their qualities of sailing, rowing, and paddling, they were 
found to answer fully the expectations that had been 
formed of them. A third little boat, nine feet by four 
and a half, and covered with Mackintosh's prepared can- 
vas, was made, and called the Walnut Shell. The fatal 
stoppage at the crossing of Copper Mine River had sug- 
gested this ; and we are told that, on the trial, several 
ladies fearlessly embarked in it, and were paddled across 
the Thames in a fresh breeze. 

In the preparations nothing appears to have been 
omitted. Scientific instruments of all kinds, fowling- 
pieces and ammunition, marquees and tents, bedding, 
clothing, and water-proof dresses, flour, arrow-root, mac- 
caroni, portable soup, chocolate, essence of coffee, sugar 
and tea, not omitting an adequate supply of that essen- 
tial article for all North American travelers, jpemmican. 
In short, whatever of use or luxury could be suggested, 
was provided, to obviate, as Franklin said, " any appre- 
hension of similar dangers to those experienced on the 
former expedition." 

When all was completed, on the 16th of Februaiy, 
1825, Captain Franklin, Lieutenant Back, Dr. Richard- 
son, Mr. Kendall, Mr. Drummond, with four marines, 
embarked at Liverpool on board the American packet 
Columbia for New York. It would be thought a waste 
of the reader's time to wade through a detail of their 
reception in America, and of their progress along the 
rivers, over the lakes and portages, with the numerous- 
obstructions and difficulties they encountered, but rath- 
er to proceed at once to land them in safety at Fort 
Chipewyan on the 15th of July, 1825. Their early ar- 
rival, it seems, caused great surprise to its inmates, be- 
ing only two days later than the time when Richardson 
and Hood had arrived in 1819, though they came only 
from Cumberland House, where they had wintered. 

It will be sufficient to say that the whole party as- 
A a2 



282 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

serubled on the banks of the Great Bear Lake River, 
which flows out of that lake on the western side into 
the Mackenzie River, down which they were to de- 
scend to the sea. On their arrival at its mouth, the ex- 
plorers were to divide themselves, agreeably with their 
official instructions, into two parties ; the one, under 
Captain Franklin, to proceed westerly, along the north- 
ern coast of America as far as Icy Cape, or to the en- 
trance of Behring's Strait, where he was told he might 
expect to find H. M. ship Blossom, under the orders of 
Captain Beechey. The other party, under Dr. Rich- 
ardson, was to depart at the same time from the mouth 
of the same river, and proceeding easterly along the 
same coast,- continue till he reached the mouth of the 
Copper Mine River. Previous, however, to the com- 
mencement of these expeditions along the coast, Frank- 
lin made the following arrangements : first, that he should 
go down to the sea, taking Mr. Kendall with him to col- 
lect information respecting the general state of the ice 
in autumn and summer ; the direction of the coast, and 
whether they might calculate on a supply of provisions. 
Secondly, that Dr. Richardson should, in his absence, 
proceed in a boat to that part of Bear Lake which ap- 
proached nearest to the Copper Mine River, and there 
fix a spot to which he might return the following year 
from the -mouth of that river. And thirdly, that Lieu- 
tenant Back, with the assistance of Mr. Dease, chief 
trader of the Hudson's Bay Company, should provide a 
comfortable residence and subsistence on the shore of 
Bear Lake for then- winter quarters, and also to arrange 
the distribution of the Indian hunters. 

These matters being settled, Franklin and Kendall 
embarked on the 8th of August in the largest boat, the 
Lion, with a well-selected crew of six Englishmen, and 
Augustus, the Esquimaux interpreter. Lieutenant Back- 
had the charge of three canoes, each manned with five 
men. The crews of these, imagining they could easily 
pass the English boat, were not a little surprised and 
mortified, on putting it to the proof, to find the boat tak- 
ing and maintaining the lead, both under sail and with 
oars. This river has been so well described by Mac- 
kenzie, that a very few observations will be sufficient 



FRANKLIN & RICHARDSON^ SECOND JOURNEY. 283 

They found, what this traveler mentions, a quantity of 
wood-coal, which was now perceived to be on fire, and 
its smell very disagreeable. When tried at winter 
quarters, it was found to emit little heat, and unfit for 
the blacksmith's use. The banks contain also a kind of 
unctuous mud, which the Indians use occasionally as 
food dming the seasons of famine, and even at other 
times chew as an amusement. It is said to have a 
milky taste, and that the flavor is not disagreeable. Frank- 
lin also mentions a dark bituminous liquid oozing from 
the rocks, and two streams of sulphureous water flowing 
into the Mackenzie, where the Bear Lake River joins 
it; also, lower down, the eastern bank is composed of 
thin strata of bituminous shale. 

Near a place called the " Ramparts" is a defile of sev- 
en miles, where the river rashes with great violence be- 
tween perpendicular walls of limestone. Here they fell 
in with a party of Hare Indians, all neatly clothed in 
new leathern dresses, highly ornamented with beads 
and porcupine quills, both sexes alike, who brought fish, 
berries, and meat. At Fort Good Hope, the lowest of 
the Company's establishments, and upward of three 
hundred miles from where the party had embarked, Mr. 
Charles Dease received and prepared for them a meal 
at midnight. The fort is situated in the midst of the 
tribe of Indians which Mackenzie calls Quarrelers, but 
whom the traders name Loucheux or Squinters. Here 
a young man, a half-breed, named Baptiste, the interpret- 
er of the fort, was lent to them for the purpose of intro- 
ducing the party to the Loucheux chief. Lower down, 
a party of these people stood gazing at the strangers 
with much distrust, and refused to accept their invita- 
tions, till at length a youth, gayly dressed, paddled off 
in his boat, and discovering Augustus, whom he recog- 
nized as an Esquimaux, rose up in his canoe, threw up 
his hands for joy, and desired every one to come off at 
once. " They caressed Augustus, danced and played 
around him, to testify their joy at his appearance among 
them ; and we could not help admiring the demeanor of 
our excellent little companion under such unusual and 
extravagant marks of attention." 

The river was now divided by islands into several 



284 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

channels. This was the sixth day after their departure ; 
and here they passed the last of the fir-trees, in latitude 
68° 40', these being succeeded by stunted willows, which 
became more dwarfish as they approached the sea. Af 
ter the dissipation of a thick fog, the expanse of water 
to the northward was so great, that Franklin was inclined 
to think they had reached the sea ; and in this he was 
almost confirmed on reaching the shore of Ellice Island, 
where they "were rejoiced at the sea-like appearance 
to the northward." " This point was observed to be in 
lat. 69° 14', long. 135° 57', and forms the northeastern 
entrance of the main channel of the Mackenzie River, 
which from Slave Lake to this point is one thousand and 
forty -five miles, according to our survey." On reaching 
Whale Island, he was satisfied that, like Mackenzie, he 
had reached the sea ; but, on tasting the water, found it 
to be perfectly fresh ; still he was persuaded he had 
reached the sea, and observing an island to the north- 
ward looking blue by its distance, the boat was directed 
toward it. About midway they were caught by a 
strong contrary wind, against which the crew contend- 
ed for five hours, the waves breaking into the boat ; the 
sails were set, which, with a change in the wind, ena- 
bled them in the course of another hour to fetch into 
smoother water, under the lee of the island. " We 
then pulled across a line of strong ripple which marked 
the termination of the fresh water, that on the seaward 
side being brackish, and in the farther progress of three 
miles to the island we had the indescribable pleasure of 
finding the water decidedly salt." This is perhaps no- 
ticed in allusion to Mackenzie having been blamed for 
not ascertaining that the water was salt by tasting it. 
Franklin says, that with his little frail craft he could not 
have ventured beyond Whale Island, or three miles, to 
prove its saltness ; but the boundless horizon, the tide, 
and the sight of porpoises and whales, were enough to 
induce him to say that he had arrived at the ocean. 
Franklin says they had often occasion to admire the 
general correctness of Mackenzie's survey. " In justice 
to his memory, I hope the custom of calling this the 
Great River, which is in general use among the traders, 
will be discontinued, and that the name of its eminent 
discoverer may be universally adopted." 



FRANKLIN & RICHARDSON S SECOND JOURNEY. 285 

On Garry Island were found several layers of wood- 
coal and bituminous liquor. Franklin had put a piece of 
the former in his pocket, which had ignited spontane- 
ously, and scorched the metal powder-horn by its side. 
From the summit of this island " the sea appeared in all 
its majesty, entirely free from ice, and without any vis- 
ible obstruction to its navigation, and never was a pros- 
pect more gratifying than that which lay open to us." 
But on landing, an incident occurred, the occasion of 
which, on leaving England, had created in his mind a 
severe struggle between the feelings of affection and a 
sense of duty, and those feelings were powerfully awa- 
kened on the present occasion. Just as he was about to 
leave England, his beloved wife, then lying at the point 
of death, with heroic fortitude urged his departure at 
the very day appointed, entreating him, as he valued her 
peace of mind and his own glory, not to delay a moment 
on her account ; that she was fully aware that her days 
were numbered, and that his delay, even if she wished 
it, could only be to close her eyes. She died the day 
after he left her. It was to this circumstance that allu- 
sion is made in the following passage, " which," it was 
well observed by a friend of his, " will speak to the heart 
of every one who is capable of understanding the grace 
that domestic tenderness lends to the gallant fortitude 
of public enterprise." 

" During our absence the men had pitched the tent on the 
beach, and I caused the silk union-flag to be hoisted, which 
my deeply-lamented wife had made and presented to me, as 
a parting gift, under the express injunction that it was not to 
be unfurled before the expedition reached the sea. I will 
not attempt to describe my emotions as it expanded to the 
breeze ; however natural, and, for the moment, irresistible, I 
felt that it was my duty to suppress them, and that I had no 
right, by an indulgence of my own sorrows, to cloud the ani- 
mated countenances of my companions. Joining, therefore, 
with the best grace that I could command, in the general ex- 
citement, I endeavored to return, with corresponding cheer- 
fulness, their warm congratulations on having thus planted the 
British flag on this remote island of the Polar Sea." — P. 36. 

Circumstanced as he was with a party many of whom 
had never seen the sea, and others in constant appre- 
hension of being attacked by the Esquimaux (an appre- 



286 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

hension that was realized on the second visit to the spot), 
it was expedient, however painfully distressing, to join 
in the general excitement, and not to suffer it to flag by 
any appearance of sorrow or despondency. In doing so, 
he says : 

" Some spirits, which had been saved for the occasion, were 
issued to the men ; and with three fervent cheers they drank 
to the health of our beloved monarch, and to the continued 
success of our enterprise. Mr. Kendall and I had also re- 
served a little of our brandy, in order to celebrate this inter- 
esting event ; but Baptiste, in his delight of beholding the 
sea, had set before us some salt water, which having been 
mixed with the brandy before the mistake was discovered, 
we were reluctantly obliged to forego the intended draught, 
and to use it in the more classical form of a libation poured 
on the ground."— P. 36, 37. 

Captain Franklin was now desirous of proceeding 
westward, to make some farther examination in aid of 
the future operations of the expedition, and of reaching, 
if possible, the foot of the Rocky Mountains ; but a gale 
of wind, violent squalls, and a threatening appearance, 
induced him to give up the attempt and to regain the 
river, in order to make the best of their way back to the 
fort, which they reached on the 5th of September, where 
Dr. Richardson and all the other members of the expe- 
dition were assembled. The buildings for their winter 
quarters were in a state of great forwardness. The 
dwelling of the officers measured 44 feet by 24, and con- 
tained a hall and four apartments, besides a kitchen ; that 
of the men was 36 by 23 feet, and divided into three 
rooms. To this comfortable residence for eight or nine 
months, " the officers," says Franklin, " had done me 
the honor, previous to my arrival, of giving the name of 
Franklin, which I felt a grateful pleasure in retaining at 
their desire, though I had intended to name it Fort Re- 
liance." 

To pass the winter in a much higher degree of lati- 
tude, as Parry did on board ship, was thought nothing of; 
it required only employment for officers and men, in or- 
der to shorten the time of confinement. Franklin was 
well aware of, and seems to have taken a lesson from, 
the regulations of Parry. The Canadians and the In- 
dians had plenty of employment for the first four or five 



FRANKLIN & RICHARDSON^ SECOND JOURNEY. 287 

months, in hunting and fishing for the support of the 
whole party. The reindeer were scarce in the autumn, 
and in the winter deserted them altogether. The fish- 
ing was more successful, and during the autumn the nets 
yielded daily from three to eight hundred fish, of the 
kind called " herring salmon ;" also some trout, tittameg, 
and carp. 

The officers employed themselves in making and reg- 
istering the various meteorological observations, in copy- 
ing their journals and remarks, in finishing the charts, 
drawings, and sketches, and in assisting Dr. Richardson 
to examine and arrange the numerous objects of natural 
history that had been collected. But it was equally nec- 
essary to find employment for the seamen and the vari- 
ous residents of the house, whose want of education ren- 
dered it more difficult to provide for. The plan adopted 
by Franklin is thus described : 

''■ As the days shortened, it was necessary to find employ- 
ment, during the long evenings, for those resident at the house, 
and a school was therefore established on three nights of the 
week, from seven o'clock to nine, for their instruction in read- 
ing, writing, and arithmetic, which was attended by most of 
the British party. They were divided in equal portions 
among the officers, whose labor was amply repaid by the ad- 
vancement their pupils made : some of those who began with 
the alphabet learned to read and write with tolerable cor- 
rectness. Sunday was a day of rest ; and, with the excep- 
tion of two or three of the Canadians, the whole party uni- 
formly attended Divine service morning and evening. If, on 
the other evenings for which no particular occupation was 
appointed, the men felt the time tedious, or if they expressed 
a wish to vary then.' employments, the hall was at their ser- 
vice, to play any game they might choose ; and on these occa- 
sions they were invariably joined by the officers. By thus 
participating in their amusements, the men became more at- 
tached to us, at the same time that we contributed to their 
health and cheerfulness. The hearts and feelings of the whole 
party were united in one common desire to make the time 
pass as agreeably as possible to each other, until the return of 
spring should enable them to resume the great object of the 
expedition." — P. 54, 55. 

Matters went on pretty well till the conclusion of the 
year : but, owing to the extreme severity of the weath- 
er in January and February, the sources from which 



288 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

they had hitherto derived subsistence failed them. The 
thermometer fell to — 49° on the 1st of January, being 
the lowest point to which it descended ; but this severe 
weather was of short duration, for on the 3d a snow- 
storm carried it up to — 9° : the highest from the 1st to 
the 10th was 8° 8', and the mean — 29° 7'. All the an- 
imals had migrated to the southward except the wolf and 
the fox. All the dried meat was expended, and no fresh 
flesh could be procured ; the fish caught did not allow 
more than three or four small herrings to each man, 
which, being out of season, afforded little nourishment, 
and caused indisposition. They were therefore obbged 
to have recourse to their provision of pemmican, arrow- 
root, and portable soup, which had been set apart for the 
voyages along the sea-coast. 

By the middle of April a large supply of meat was 
brought up from the stores of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, which put them quite at ease respecting food until 
the season for their departure ; besides, the animals were 
beginning to pour in from the southward. Of these and 
other " phenomena connected with the progress of the 
seasons kept at Fort Franklin,"* Dr. Richardson records, 
that on the 11th of September the musquetoes ceased 
to be troublesome ; on the 2d of October, swans in flight 
to the southward ; on the 5th the last swans were seen. 
On the shortest day the sun was above the horizon 2h. 
38m. 10th of April, a house-fly seen in the open air. 
On the 6th of May the first swans were seen ; on the 
7th the geese appeared ; on the 8th the ducks ; on the 
9th the gulls ; on the 11th the first rain fell ; on the 17th 
various singing birds made their appearance ; on the 27th 
the first laughing-geese were seen ; and on the 31st the 
goatsuckers brought up the rear : and many others, as 
well as various plants, are registered. 

In the course of the month of May the preparations 
were nearly complete, and an additional new boat finish- 
ed, after the model of the Lion, named the Reliance. 
In June the boats were all afloat and manned. Fourteen 
men, including Augustus and two Canadian voyagers, 
were to accompany Franklin and Back in the Lion and 
Reliance ; and ten, including Ooligbuck (another Esqui- 
* Appendix, p. 74, table 75. 



franklin & Richardson's second journey. 289 

maux), to go with Richardson and Kendall in the Dol- 
phin and Union. 

The position of Fort Franklin was determined ; its 
latitude 55° ll 7 56", longitude 123° 12' 44" W., varia- 
tion 39° 9' E., dip 82° 58' 15". 

The whole party embarked on B ear Lake River on the 
24th of June, the 23d being a sultry day ; the thermom- 
eter in the shade at noon 71°, and at 3 P.M. 74° : the 
ice drifting down in large masses, and with such rapidity 
as to render embarcation unsafe. It ceased, however, 
at eight the following morning, and allowed them to pro- 
ceed : in the evening they entered the Mackenzie River. 
On leaving Fort Good Hope on the 2d of July, being on 
the border of the Esquimaux territory, it was deemed 
expedient to arm the men, and a gun, dagger, and am- 
munition were issued to each person. On the 3d they 
reached the broad part of the river, where different 
channels branch off; and here the separation of the par- 
ties was to take place. The western branch was the 
route to be pursued by the boats of Franklin's party, and 
the eastern branch by those of Richardson ; the former 
to proceed alsng the northern coast westerly as far as 
Icy Cape, where it was expected to fall in with the Blos- 
som ; the latter to examine the coast-iine between the 
mouth of the Mackenzie and that of the Copper Mine 
River, and having reached the latter, he was directed to 
proceed by land to the northeast arm of the Great Bear 
Lake, where a boat would meet and convey him to Fort 
Franklin. The Lion, under the command of Captain 
Franklin, had a crew of six men, with Augustus the in- 
terpreter. The Reliance, under the orders of Lieuten- 
ant Back, was manned with seven men, consisting of 
four seamen, a marine, and two Canadian voyagers. 

Franklin's Voyage to the Westward. 

To follow Franklin first, on his voyage to the west- 
ward, after passing through several shallow channels be- 
tween islands and the main, trending westerly. On the 
7th of July the party reached the mouth of the river, 
and Franklin, walking toward the shore, discovered on 
an island a crowd of tents, with many Esquimaux stroll- 
ing among them. He therefore hastened back to the 
19 B "b 



290 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

boat to prepare for a communication with them, and to 
select certain articles for presents and trade. He gave 
orders, in case these people should show intentions of 
hostility, to forbid firing till he should set the example, 
or till ordered to do so by Lieutenant Back. 

The boats steered toward the tents under easy sail, 
with the ensigns flying ; unfortunately, they grounded 
when about a mile from the beach. Signs were made 
to the Esquimaux to come off. Three canoes instantly 
put off, but before they could reach the boats, others 
were lanched in such quick succession, that the whole 
space between the island and the boats was covered 
with them. "We endeavored," says Franklin, " to count 
their numbers as they approached, and had proceeded 
as far as seventy-three canoes and five oomiaks, when 
the sea became so crowded by fresh arrivals that we 
could advance no farther in our reckoning." It was sup- 
posed, however, that the number of persons had soon in- 
creased to about three hundred, all pressing forward to 
trade, and becoming more and more importunate and 
troublesome. The headmost canoes were paddled by 
elderly men, who most probably had been selected to 
open the communication. They invited Augustus to 
approach with the present held out to them. Augustus 
then explained to them the purport of our visit, and told 
them that if we found a navigable channel for large 
ships, we should come and open a highly beneficial trade 
with them : with this they were delighted, tossed up 
their hands aloft, " raising the most deafening shout of 
applause I ever heard." 

Thus far all went on well ; but an accident happened 
while the crowd was pressing round the boats, which 
was productive of unforeseen and very annoying conse- 
quences : 

"A kaiyack being overset by one of the Lion's oars, iia 
owner was plunged into the water with his head in the mud, 
and apparently in danger of being drowned. We instantly 
extricated him from his unpleasant situation, and took him 
into the boat until the water could be thrown out of his 
kaiyack; and Augustus, seeing him shivering with cold, 
wrapped him up in his own great-coat. At first he was ex- 
ceedingly angry, but soon became reconciled to his situation ; 
and, looking about, discovered thai we had manv bales and 



FRANKLIN &. RICHARDSOn's SECOND JOURNEY. 291 

other articles in the boat, which had been concealed from the 
people in the kaiyacks by the coverings being carefully spread 
over all. He soon began to ask for every thing he saw, and 
expressed much displeasure on our refusing to comply with 
his demands ; lie also, we afterward learned, excited the cu- 
pidity of others by his account of the inexhaustible riches in 
the Lion, and several of the younger men endeavored to get 
into both our boats, but we resisted all their attempts." — P. 
101, 102. 

They continued, however, to press, and made many 
efforts to get into the boats, while the water had ebbed 
so far that it was not knee-deep at the place where they 
lay ; and the younger men, waiting in crowds around 
them, tried to steal every thing they could reach. The 
Reliance being afloat, was dragged by the crowd toward 
the shore, when Franklin directed the crew of the Lion 
(which was aground and immovable) to endeavor to fol- 
low her ; but she remained fast until the E squimaux 
lent their aid and dragged her after the Reliance. One 
of the Lion's men perceived that the man who was 
upset had a pistol under his shirt, which it was discov- 
ered had been stolen from Lieutenant Back, and the 
thief, seeing it to be noticed, leaped out of the boat and 
joined his countrymen, carrying with him the great-coat 
which Augustus had lent him. 

" Two of the most powerful men, jumping on board at the 
same time, seized me by the wrists and forced me to sit be- 
tween them ; and as I shook them loose two or three times, 
a third Esquimaux took his station in front to catch my arm 
whenever I attempted to lift my gun, or the broad dagger 
which hung by my side. The whole way to the shore they 
kept repeating the word ' ieymaj 1 beating gently on my left 
breast with their hands, and pressing mine against their 
breasts. As we neared the beach, two oomiaks full of wom- 
en arrived, and the 'tey 'mas 1 and vociferation were redoubled. 
The Reliance was first brought to the shore, and the Lion 
close to her a few seconds afterward. The three men who 
held me now leaped ashore, and those who had remained in 
their canoes, taking them out of the water, carried them to a 
little distance. A numerous party then drawing their knives, 
and stripping themselves to the waist, ran to the Reliance, 
and, having first hauled her as far up as they could, began 
a regular pillage, handing the articles to the women, who, 
ranged in a row behind, quickly conveved them out of sight." 
—P. 104. 



292 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

In short, after a furious contest, when knives were 
brandished in a most threatening manner, several of the 
men's clothes cut through, and the buttons of others torn 
from their coats, Lieutenant Back ordered his people to 
seize and level their muskets, but not to fire till the 
word was given. This had the desired effect, the whole 
crowd taking to their heels and hiding themselves be- 
hind the drift- timber on the beach. Captain Franklin 
still thought it best to temporize so long as the boats 
were lying aground ; for, armed as the Esquimaux were 
with long knives, bows, arrows, and spears, fire-arms 
could not have been used with advantage against so nu- 
merous a host. Franklin, indeed, states his conviction, 
" considering the state of excitement to which they had 
worked themselves, that the first blood which his party 
might unfortunately have shed would instantly have 
been revenged by the sacrifice of all their lives." 

As soon as the boats were afloat and making to a se- 
cure anchorage, seven or eight of the natives walked 
along the beach, entered into conversation with Augus- 
tus, and invited him to a conference on snore. " I was 
unwilling to let him go," says Franklin, "but the brave 
little fellow entreated so earnestly that I would suffer 
him to land and reprove the Esquimaux for their con- 
duct, that I at length consented." On his return, being 
desired to tell what he had said to them, "he had told 
them," he said, 

" Your conduct has been very bad, and unlike that of all 
other Esquimaux. Some of you even stole from me, your 
countryman ; but that I do not mind ; I only regret that you 
should have treated in this violent manner the white people, 
who came solely to do you kindness. My tribe were in 
the same unhappy state in which you now are before the 
white people came to Churchill, but at present they are sup- 
plied with every thing they need, and you see that I am well 
clothed ; I get all that I want, and am very comfortable. 
You can not expect, after the transactions of this day, that 
these people will ever bring goods to your country again, 
unless you show ynur contrition by restoring the stolen 
goods. The white people love the Esquimaux, and wish to 
show them the same kindness that they bestow upon the 
Indians. Do not deceive yourselves, and suppose they are 
afraid of you ; I tell you they are not ; and that it i.s entirely 



FRANKLIN &. KICHARDSON's SECOND JOURNEY. 293 

owing to their humanity that many of you were not killed 
to-day ; for they have all guns, with which they can destroy 
you either when near or at a distance. I also have a gun, 
and can assure you that, if a white man had fallen, I would 
have been the first to have revenged his death." — F. 108, 109. 

The language, of course, is that of Franklin, who, 
however, gives it as the purport of Augustus's speech, 
and adds, " his veracity is beyond all question with the 
party." " We could perceive, "says Franklin, " by the 
shouts of applause with which they filled the pauses in 
his language, that they assented to his arguments ; and 
he told us they had expressed great sorrow for having 
given so much cause of offense." He said, moreover, 
that they pleaded ignorance, having never before seen 
white men; that they had seen so many fine things 
entirely new to them, that they could not resist the 
temptation of stealing ; they promised never to do the 
like again, and gave a proof of their sincerity by restoring 
the articles that had been stolen ; and thus, in an amica- 
ble manner, was the affray concluded. 

These people, in possession of the country bordering 
on the coast between the Mackenzie River and the 
Rocky Mountains, appear to have assumed a more war- 
like character, from frequent collisions with their neigh- 
bors the Dog-rib Indians, than their countrymen gener- 
ally possess. It was also observed, that the farther the 
party advanced to the westward, the more they found 
the Esquimaux features taking the resemblance of those 
of the Tartar race, distinguished by high cheek-bones, 
and small, obliquely elongated eyes, not unlike those of 
the Chinese. 

" Every man had pieces of bone or shells thrust through 
the septum of his nose ; and holes were pierced on each side 
of the under lip, in which were placed circular pieces of 
ivory, with a large blue bead in the center, similar to those 
represented in the drawings of the natives on the N.W. 
coast of America, in Kotzebue's Voyage. These ornaments 
were so much valued, that they declined selling them ; and 
when not rich enough to procure beads or ivory, stones and 
pieces of bone were substituted. These perforations are 
made at the age of puberty ; and one of the party, who 
appeared to be about fourteen years old, was pointed out 
with delight by his parents as having to undergo the oper- 
B b 2 



294 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

ation in the following year. He was a good-looking boy, 
and we could not fancy his countenance would be much im- 
proved by the insertion of the bones or stones, which have 
the effect of depressing the under lip, and keeping the mouth 
open."— P. 118. 

The dress of the women differed from that of the 
men only in their wearing wide trowsers, and large 
hoods over their heads ; some of the younger females 
had pleasing countenances. 

" Their own black hair is very tastefully turned up from 
behind to the top of the head, and tied by strings of white 
and blue beads, or cords of white deer skin. It is divided in 
front, so as to form on each side a thick tail, to which are ap- 
pended strings of beads that reach to the waist. The women 
were from four and a half to four and three quarters feet high, 
and generally fat. Some of the younger females, and the 
children, were pretty. The lady whose portrait adorns this 
work was mightily pleased at being selected by Lieutenant 
Back for his sketch, and testified her joy by smiles and many 
jumps. The men, when sitting for their portraits, wei'e more 
sedate, though not less pleased, than the females ; some of 
them remarked that they were not handsome enough to be 
taken to our country." — P. 119. 

Having taken an amicable leave of these people, on 
the 13th of July they put to sea, and soon discovered a 
projecting point of land, to which was joined a compact 
body of ice. A dense fog set in, with a strong gale and 
heavy rain. With considerable danger to the boats, 
after five hours' pulling between masses of ice, they 
succeeded in getting round Cape Sabine, and landed a 
little to the west of it. Here they observed much wood- 
coal on the bank. On the 15th they proceeded, having 
noticed the ice loosened from the land, and advanced to 
a river which they named Babbage, the width near its 
mouth being about two miles. Here it was observed 
that the Rocky Mountains run in detached ranges, at 
unequal distances from the coast. Their latitude was 
69° 19', longitude 138° 10|'. 

On the 17th, finding a channel of water between an 
island they named Herschel and the main, they entered 
it, and this strait is reported to be " the only place that 
we had seen since quitting the Mackenzie River in 
which a ship could find shelter." Its latitude was 69° 
33^', longitude 139° 3' W. The ice and the shallow- 



FRANKLIN & RICHARDSON'S SECUXD JOURNEY. 295 

uess of the water beyond it seaward somewhat checked 
their progress, and gave time for Franklin to visit Mount 
Conybeare, one of the rocky ranges he had so named, 
from whence he had an extensive view of the succession 
of ranges, to all which he assigns names, that probably 
are not doomed to go beyond the page that contains 
them, and certainly not to posterity. On the 23d a 
narrow opening in the ice allowed them to proceed as 
far as a small stream, which they named Sir Pulteney 
Malcolm, and which had given them an advance of ten 
.miles. Bowlders of greenstone, sandstone, and lime- 
stone were found near the mouth of this river, deeply 
seated in the gravel of the beach. 

On the 27th of July they came to the mouth of a wide 
river, which, proceeding from the " British range of 
mountains," " and being," says Franklin, " the most 
westerly river in the British dominions on this coast, and 
near the line of demarcation between Great Britain and 
Russia, I named it the Clarence, in honor of his royal 
highness the lord-high-admiral." From hence fogs and 
long-continued gales, rain, and heavy pieces of drift-ice 
continued to interrupt their progress till the 4th of Au- 
gust, when they fell in with a party of trading and 
peaceable Esquimaux, from whom they learned that the 
-coast before them was similar to that along which they 
had been traveling. They were now in lat. 70° 5', 
long. 143° 55'. For some time past they had pulled 
the boats outside, or to seaward of the continued reef 
of rocks and gravel, about two miles, and a little farther 
on found the water very shallow and perfectly fresh. 
To another large river they gave the name of Canning, 
opposite to which, at three miles from the shore, the 
'water was still fresh. This river was of course running 
through the Russian dominions. 

The farther they advanced westerly the more dense 
the fogs became ; not a day elapsed in which they did 
not occur ; the temperature descended to 35°, and the 
gales of wind became more constant; at night the water 
froze ; and the middle of August having arrived, the win- 
ter might here be said to have set in ; the more early, 
probably, from the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains, and 
the extensive swampy plains between them and the sea. 



29Q. ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

The men had suffered much from the hard labor of pull- 
ing and dragging the heavy boats, and from cold as well 
as fatigue. It will readily be believed, from the charac- 
ter of the man, that it was with no ordinary degree of 
pain that Franklin could bring himself even to think of 
relinquishing the great object of his ambition, or of dis- 
appointing the flattering confidence that had been repos- 
ed on his exertions. " But," he says, " I had higher 
duties to perform than the gratification of my own feel- 
ings ; and the mature consideration of all the above mat- 
ters forced me to the conclusion that we had reached 
that point beyond which perseverance would be rash- 
ness, and our best efforts must be fruitless." He there- 
fore, with full approbation of his companions, set out, on 
the 18th of August, on his return to the Mackenzie, 
from the extreme point gained, named by him the Return 
Reef, in lat. 70° 24' N., long. 149° 37' 'W. 

About this time, as it afterward appeared, the Blos- 
som's boat, sent by Beechey from Behring's Strait, ar- 
rived on the coast, on which Franklin observes : 

" Could I have known, or by possibility imagined, that a 
party from, the Blossom had been at the distance of only 160 
miles from me, no difficulties, dangers, or discouraging circum- 
stances should have prevailed on me to return ; but taking 
into account the uncertainty of all voyages in a sea obstruct- 
ed by icey I had no right to expect that the Blossom had ad- 
vanced beyond Kotzebue Inlet, or that any party from her had 
doubled the Icy Cape." — P. 165. 

Captain Franklin states the distance traced westerly 
from the mouth of the Mackenzie River to have been 
374 miles, along one of the most dreary, miserable, and 
uninteresting portions of sea-coast that can perhaps be 
found in any part of the world ; and in all that space, 
not a harbor exists in which a ship could find shelter. 

The return voyage was equally harassing to the one 
fust completed. Near Herschel Island, however, they 
had a narrow escape from the effects of a violent storm, 
on the ocean : 

" As the afternoon wore away, gloomy clouds gathered in 
the northwest ; and at six a violent squall came from that 
quarter, attended with snow and sleet. The gale increased. 
with rapidity : in less than ten minutes the sea was white 
with foam, and such waves were raised as I had never before 



FRANKLIN & RICHARDSON^ SECOND JOURNEY. 297 

been exposed to in a boat. The spray and sea broke over us 
incessantly, and it was with difficulty that we could keep 
free by bailing. Our little vessels went through the w°t.er 
with great velocity, under a close-reefed sail, hoisted about 
three feet up the mainmast, and proved themselves to be 
very buoyant. Their small size, however, and the nature 
of their construction, necessarily adapted for the navigation 
of shallow rivers, unfitted them for withstanding the sea then 
running, and we were in imminent danger of foundering. 
I therefore resolved on making for the shore, as the only 
means of saving the party, although I was aware that in so 
doing I incurred the hazard of staving the boats, there being 
few places on this part of the coast where there was sufficient 
beach under the broken cliffs. The wind blowing along the 
land, we could not venture on exposing the boat's side to 
the sea by hauling directly in, but, edging away with the 
wind in that quarter, we most providentially took the ground 
in a favorable spot. The boats were instantly filled with 
the surf, but they were unloaded and dragged up without 
having sustained any material damage. Impressed with a 
sense of gratitude for the signal deliverance we had experi- 
enced on this and other occasions, we assembled in the even- 
ing to offer up praise and thanksgiving to the Almighty." — 
P. 172, 173. 

On the 21st of September the party reached Fort 
Franklin, where they had the happiness of meeting all 
-their friends in safety : the eastern detachment had ar- 
rived on the 1st of September, after a most successful 
voyage. Franklin says that the distance traveled, in the 
three months of their absence from Fort Franklin, 
amounted to two thousand and forty-eight statute miles, 
of which six hundred and ten were through parts not 
previously discovered. 

" I can not close this account of our sea voyage without ex- 
pressing the deep obligation I feel to Lieutenant Back for his 
cordial co-operation, and for his zealous and unwearied assi- 
duity during its progress. * * * * My warmest thanks 
are likewise due to the men of my party, who met every 
obstacle with an ardent desire to surmount it, and cheerful- 
ly exerted themselves to the utmost of their power. Their 
cool, steady conduct is the more commendable as the sea nav- 
igation was entirely novel to the whole except to the seamen 
Duncan and Spinks, and Hallom, corporal of marines. The 
Canadian voyagers, Felix and Vivier, first saw the ocean on 
this occasion." 



298 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 



Dr. Richardson's Voyage to the Eastward. 

The narrative of Dr. Richardson is briefly and lucidly 
told. According to his instructions, he had to trace the 
coast between the Mackenzie and Copper Mine Rivers, 
and to return from the latter overland to Fort Franklin. 
His party consisted of himself, the interpreter Ooligbuck, 
and four men, in the Dolphin ; and Mr. Kendall in the 
Union. On leaving Point Separation, in one of the 
branches of the Mackenzie, on the 4th of July, he made 
for Middle Channel, out of which he entered a branch 
flowing to the eastward, the land being low and marshy, 
and the summits of the banks loaded with drift-timber. 
These flats were enlivened by the busy flight and 
cheerful twittering of the sand-martins, which had 
scooped out thousands of nests in the banks ; " we wit- 
nessed with pleasure their activity in thinning the ranks 
of our most tormenting foes, the musquetoes." At for- 
ty-two miles the party came to the commencement of 
Reindeer Hills on the main-land, clothed with trees to 
their tops. 

On the 5th, having made above forty miles, they en- 
camped ; and here a spruce-tree was seen of the unu- 
sual circumference of seven feet at four feet from the 
ground. On the following day, in lat. 69°, the Eastern 
Channel made a turn round the point of the Reindeer 
Hills, which here terminated ; and here also was a small 
island, possessing, according to Mackenzie, a " sacred 
character," being still a burial-place of the Esquimaux : 
it was called by Richardson the " Sacred Island." Here 
also the channel terminated, by several islands dividing 
it into as many branches. On some of them, and on va- 
rious parts of the coast, the bituminous shale was no- 
ticed to be on fire ; and in some parts of the cliffs ap- 
peared as if they had fallen down, owing to the con- 
sumption of the combustible strata, and terminating in a 
green and sloping bank. The attraction of oxygen by 
the sulphur causes the combustion, which, as the doc- 
tor observes, is made more lively by the presence of bit- 
umen. 

They now steered along the main shore, and speedily 



¥ 



Richardson's voyage to the eastward. 299 



fell in with a tribe of Esquimaux, who used threatening 
language aud gestures, when Ooligbuck said they were 
bad people, " entreated me to embark, took me on his 
back, and carried me on board." As the conduct of 
these people was very similar to that which Franklin 
met with, and not differing materially from those inhab- 
iting the eastern coast of Mellville Peninsula, it will not 
be necessaiy to notice the numerous parties of these 
people met with on this voyage. It may be observed, 
that on this occasion, by judicious management on the 
part of Richardson, the necessity of firing upon them 
was avoided. These poor creatures had no doubt the 
same excuse as those who attacked Franklin ; they had 
never seen white men, and never probably heard of the 
only one that their great-grandfathers might have seen. 
Having got rid of the Esquimaux, suddenly a violent gale 
arose, that, by setting on the shore, obliged them to take 
shelter in Refuge Cove, in lat. 69° 29', which they left 
the following day ; but, from the badness of the weather, 
and the ice extending on the sea to the northward, they 
made little progress. At their halting-place on the 13th, 
the doctor says : 

" Myriads of musquetoes, which reposed among the grass, 
rose in clouds when disturbed, and gave us much annoyance. 
Many snow-birds were hatching on the point, and we saw- 
swans, Canada geese, eider, king, arctic, and surf ducks ; sev- 
eral glaucous, silvery, black-headed, and ivory gulls, together 
with terns and northern divers. Some laughing-geese passed 
to the northward in therevening, which may be considered 
as a sure indication of land in that direction." — P. 217. 

On the 14th they took shelter from the fog and a 
heavy gale in a cove called Browel Cove, in latitude 70°, 
longitude 130° 19'. It was supposed, the water being 
brackish, that it proceeded from an immense lake not far 
from the beach, known by the name of the Esquimaux 
Lake. Of this large sheet of water Dr. Richardson 
gives the following account : 

" Taking for granted that the accounts we received from 
the natives were (as our own observations led us to believe) 
correct, Esquimaux Lake is a very extensive and curious 
piece of water. The Indians say that it reaches to within 
four days' march of Fort Good Hope ; and the Esquimaux 
informed us that it extends from Point Encounter to Cape Ba- 



300 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

tkurst, thus ascribing to it an extent from north to south of 
more than one hundred and forty miles, and from east to west 
of one hundred and fifty. * * * If a conjecture may be haz- 
arded about the original formation of a lake which we had 
so few opportunities of examining, it seems probable that the 
alluvial matters brought down by the Mackenzie and other 
rivers have gradually formed a barrier of islands and shoals, 
which, by preventing the free access of the tide, enables the 
fresh water to maintain the predominance behind it. The 
action of the waves of the sea has a tendency to increase the 
height of the barrier, while the currents of the rivers and 
ebb tide preserve the depth of the lake. A great formation 
of wood-coal will, I doubt not, be ultimately formed by the 
immense quantities of drift-timber annually deposited on the 
borders of Esquimaux Lake." — P. 228. 

On the J5th they made a traverse of ten miles across 
an inlet, the water of which, running out in a strong 
current, and nearly fresh, was supposed to be another 
communication of the Esquimaux Lake with the sea. 
They named it Russell Inlet. The latitude was 70° 
12', and the longitude 129° 21' ; and here the main-land 
trended, as they wished, to the southeast ; for, having 
passed the low coasts and shoals which extend as far as 
the lake continues, it was expected that the obstruction 
to their progress would cease, as in the whole of this 
distance they had to cross channels of shallow water, 
encumbered with banks of shingle, and the water more 
fresh than salt. 

On the 18th, sailing between some islands and the 
main, a large party of Esquimaux rushed out to the 
shore, brandishing their knives, using threatening ex- 
pressions, and forbidding them to land. But on Rich- 
ardson bawling out "barter," they were peaceful in a 
moment, and brought such goods as they possessed on 
board : so easily are savages managed by judicious treat- 
ment. 

" The females, unlike those of the Indian tribes, had much 
handsomer features than the men ; and one young woman of 
the party would have been deemed pretty even in Europe. 
Our presents seemed to render them perfectly happy, and 
they danced with such ecstasy in their slender boats as to in- 
cur, more than once, great hazard of being overset. A bun- 
dle of strings of beads being thrown into an oomiak, it was 
caught by an old woman, who hugged the treasure to her 



RICHARDSON 5 S VOYAGE TO THE EASTWARD. 301 

breast with the strongest expression of rapture, while another 
elderly dame, who had stretched out her arms in vain, be- 
came the very picture of despair. On my explaining, how- 
ever, that the present was for the whole, an amicable division 
instantly took place ; and to show then* gratitude, they sang 
a song to a pleasing air, keeping time with their oars. They 
gave us many pressing invitations to pass the night at their 
tents, in which they were joined by the men ; and to excite 
our liberality, the mothers drew the children out of their 
wide boots, where they are accustomed to carry them naked, 
and holding them up, begged beads for them. Their entreat- 
ies were, for a time, successful ; but, being desirous of getting 
clear of our visitors before breakfast-time, we at length told 
them that our stock was exhausted, and they took leave." — 
P. 225, 226. 

At one of their halting-places, the interesting little 
anecdote of the snow-bunting's nest, mentioned by Cap- 
tain Lyon, could not fail to be brought to their recollec- 
tion by the following incident : 

" In taking wood to make a fire from a large pile of drift- 
timber which had been collected by the Esquimaux, the nest 
of a snow-bird, containing four young, was discovered. The 
parent-bird was at first scared away, but affection for its off- 
spring at length gave it courage to approach them with food ; 
and, as it was not molested, it soon became quite fearless, 
and fed them with the larvae of insects, while the party were 
seated at breakfast close by the nest." — P. 235. 

Through a small opening in the land, which with the 
main formed Harrowby Bay, the boats passed with 
great difficulty, being nearly barred up ; and the mo- 
ment they had crossed the bar, the water was greenish 
and perfectly salt. The eastern point of the passage 
lies in latitude 70° 30', longitude 127° 35' ; and Point 
Bathurst proved to be the most northerly part of the 
main they approached during the voyage. From this 
point the coast trended southeast into Franklin's Bay, in 
latitude 69° 20' ; rose on the east to Cape Pariy, in 
latitude 70° 5' ; descended again to Darnley Bay, in 
latitude 69° 35', the eastern cape of which is in latitude 
69° 45', from whence the main shore gradually trends 
to the southward of east, steep to, and bold, with here 
and there a small bay and projecting point, till it reaches 
Cape Krusenstern, previous to which the party passed 
through a broad channel, named the Union and Dolphin 
Cc 



802 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

Strait, and formed between a long tract of elevated land 
to the northward and the main shore, to which was 
given the name of Wollaston Land. In this strait they 
were impeded, and the Dolphin was nearly crushed, by 
two masses of ice. 

As soon as she was rendered sea-worthy they pro- 
ceeded, but the flood tide set with such velocity round 
a rocky point, and brought with it so much ice, that it 
was thought prudent to put ashore. The violent eddies 
in the currents there, the doctor says, " reminded us 
forcibly of the poet's description of Scylla and Charyb- 
dis." The navigation of the Dolphin and Union Strait, 
he says, would be dangerous to ships, from the many 
sunken rocks which we observed near the southern 
shore. 

A little beyond the strait is a rocky promontory, to 
which Dr. Richardson gave the name of Cape Krusen- 
stern, in honor of the distinguished Russian hydrogra- 
pher; its latitude was 68° 23' N., longitude 113° 45' 
W., and it is the most eastern part of the land which 
they coasted. From this point the coast trends to the 
southwest, and appears as if forming the western side 
of what is called in the charts George the Fourth's 
Coronation Gulf, a mistake occasioned by bringing the 
letters of the title on the chart too far to the westward ; 
to the southward of it is Cape Hearne, which Franklin 
and Richardson, in a former visit to the mouth of the 
Copper Mine, saw only at a distance, appearing as an 
island. To the southward of Cape Hearne is the mouth 
of the Copper Mine River. Richardson now announced 
to the men that a short traverse would bring them to 
the mouth of this river. " The gratifying intelligence," 
he says, "which we now conveyed to them was totally 
unexpected, and the pleasure they experienced found 
vent in heartfelt expressions of gratitude to the Divine 
Being for his protection on the voyage." 

The south coast of the Polar Sea could not be ex- 
pected to produce much variety of objects in the vegeta- 
ble part of the creation, remarkable either for their 
utility or beauty. Dr. Richardson thus sums up what 
he observed, or collected, on the portion traversed by 
him, which he estimates at about nine hundred miles - 



RICHARDSOn's VOYAGE TO THE EASTWARD. 308 

" We noticed on the coast about one hundred and seventy 
phcenogamous, or flowering plants, being one fifth of the num- 
ber of species which exist fifteen degrees of latitude farther 
to the southward. The grasses, bents, and rushes constitute 
only one fifth of the number of species on the coast, but the 
two former tribes actually cover more ground than all the 
rest of the vegetation. The cruciferous or cross-like tribe 
afford one seventh of the species, and the compound flowers 
are nearly as numerous. The shrubby plants that reach the 
sea-coast are the common juniper, two species of willow, the 
dwarf birch, the common alder, the hippophae, a gooseberry, 
the red bearberry {Arbutus uva ursi), the Labrador tea-plant, 
the Lapland rose, the bog whortleberry, and the crowberry. 
The kidney-leaved oxyria grows in great luxuriance there, 
and occasionally furnished us with an agreeable addition to 
our meals, as it resembles the garden-sorrel in flavor, but is 
more juicy and tender. It is eaten by the natives, and must, 
as well as many of the cress-like plants, prove an excellent 
corrective of the gross, oily, rancid, and frequently putrid 
meat on which they subsist. The small bulbs of the Alpine 
bistort, and the long, succulent, and sweet roots of many of 
the Astragaleae, which grow on the sandy shores, are eatable, 
but we did not learn that the Esquimaux were acquainted 
with their use. A few clumps of white spruce-fir, with some 
straggling black spruces and canoe-birches, grow at the dis- 
tance of twenty or thirty miles from the sea, in sheltered sit- 
uations on the banks of rivers." — P. 264, 265. 

In concluding his account of the sea voyage, Dr. Rich- 
ardson adds the following paragraph, which is highly 
creditable to Mr. Kendall, the assistant surveyor : 

" The completion of our sea voyage so early in the season 
was a subject of mutual congratulation to us all ; and to Mr. 
Kendall and myself it was highly gratifying to behold our 
men still fresh and vigorous, and ready to commence the la- 
borious march across the barren grounds, with the same spirit 
that they had shown in overcoming the obstacles which pre- 
sented themselves to their progress by sea. We all felt that 
the comfort and ease with which the voyage had been per- 
formed were greatly owing to the judicious and plentiful pro- 
vision of stores and. food which Captain Franklin had made 
for us ; and gratitude for his care mingling with the pleasure 
excited by our success, and directing our thoughts more 
strongly to his party, the most ardent wishes were expressed 
that they might prove equally fortunate. The correctness of 
Mr. Kendall's reckoning was another source of pleasure. 
Having been deprived of the aid of chronometers by the 



304 ARCTIC VOYAGES* 

breaking of the two intended for the eastern detachment of 
the expedition during the intense winter cold, our only re- 
source for correcting the dead reckoning was lunar observa- 
tions, made as frequently as opportunities offered ; yet when 
we approached the Copper Mine River, Mr. Kendall's reck- 
oning differed from the position of that place, as ascertained 
on Captain Franklin's former expedition, only twenty seconds 
of time, or about two miles and a half of distance, which is a 
very trifling difference when the length of the voyage and the 
other circumstances are taken into consideration. The dis- 
tance between Point Separation and the mouth of the Copper 
Mine River, by the route we pursued, is nine hundred and 
two statute miles."— P. 261, 262. 

Having thus completed their voyage by arriving at 
the mouth of the Copper Mine River, and again noticed 
the capes and islands seen from thence jointly by Rich- 
ardson and Franklin on a former occasion, and now hav- 
ing certified to be land what was then only conjecture, 
they proceeded up the river as far as the Bloody Falls, 
above which, for about forty miles, the river was found 
to be so full of rapids, and to flow over such an uneven 
and rocky bed, and its current so precipitous, as to be 
wholly impracticable to ascend it in boats of a greater 
draught than a few inches. They therefore left the 
Union and the Dolphin boats at the Bloody Fall, stow- 
ing in them a number of small articles for the use of the 
Esquimaux who frequent this spot ; and having distrib- 
uted among the party a certain quantity of pemmican, 
portable soup, and other articles of provision, the whole 
amounting to about seventy pounds to each man, they 
set out on foot for Dease's River, on Great Bear Lake. 
A boat had been appointed to convey them across the 
lake to Fort Franklin. By this plan a journey would 
be. saved of three hundred miles, and of three weeks, 
which a walk round the lake would have required ; be- 
sides, it spared them, in addition to much fatigue and 
suffering, the wear and tear of their small stock of 
shoes, almost already exhausted, and of their clothing, 
which was but ill adapted for the frosty nights of Sep- 
tember. 

Some little delay occurred in the arrival of the boat 
on Dease's River, but they reached Fort Franklin on 
the 1st of September, " and received a warm welcome 



Richardson's voyage to the eastward. 305 

from Mr. Dease, after an absence of seventy-one days, 
during which period we had traveled by land and water 
one thousand seven hundred and nine geographical, or 
uineteen hundred and eighty statute miles." Dr. Rich- 
ardson adds : 

" Having now brought the narrative of the proceedings of 
the eastern detachment to a conclusion, the pleasing duty re- 
mains of expressing my gratitude to the party for their cheer- 
ful and obedient conduct. Not a murmur of discontent was 
heard throughout the voyage, but eveiy individual engaged 
with alacrity in the laborious tasks he was called upon to per- 
form. Where all behaved with the greatest zeaL it would be 
invidious to particularize any; and I am happy to have it in 
my power to add, that since our return to England, Gillot 
(coxswain), Tucker (carpenter), and Tysoe (marine), who 
were in H.M.'s service previous to their being employed on 
the expedition, have been rewarded by promotion. Our 
good-natured and faithful Esquimaux friend, Ooligbuck, car- 
ried with him to his native land the warmest wishes and es- 
teem of the whole party. His attachment to us was never 
doubtful, even when we were surrounded by a tribe of his 
own nation. 

" The general abilities and professional skill of my compan- 
ion, Mr. (now Lieutenant) Kendall, are duly appreciated in 
higher quarters, and can derive but little luster from any eu- 
logium from nie; but I can not deny myself the gratification 
of recording my deep sense of the good fortune and happiness 
t experienced iu being associated with a gentleman of such 
pleasing manners, and one upon whose friendly support and 
sound judgment I could, with -confidence, rely on occasions of 
difficulty and doubt inseparable from such a voyage." — P. 283. 

This kind-hearted and most amiable man, Dr. Rich- 
ardson, could not pass over the incident of bestowing on 
a bay the name of Franklin without recording a kind 
and well-deserved compliment to that highly meritorious 
officer. 

" It would not be proper, nor is it my intention, to descant 
on the professional merits of my superior officer; but, after 
having served under Captain Frankhn for nearly seven years, 
in two successive voyages of discovery, I trust I may be al- 
lowed to say, that however high his brother officers may rate 
his courage and talents, either in the ordinary line of his pro- 
fessional duty or in the field of discovery, the hold he acquires 
upon the affections of those under his command, by a contin- 
ued series of the most conciliating attentions to their feelings. 
20 C c 2 



306 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

and a uniform and unremitting regard to their best interests* 
is not Less conspicuous. I feel that the sentiments of my 
friends and companions, Captain Back and Lieutenant Ken 
dall, are in unison with my own when I affirm that gratitude 
and attachment to our late commanding officer will animate 
our breasts to the latest period of our lives." — P. 236, 237. 

That gratitude and attachment here expressed were 
returned in full measure to Dr. Richardson, not only by 
the commanding officer, but by every individual em- 
ployed on the two voyages, and also by the natives with 
whom they had intercourse, and by whom his uniform 
kindness and humanity were duly appreciated. Frank- 
lin always acknowledged that to his energy of character 
and promptitude of action are to be ascribed the safety, 
not alone of himself, but of the surviving party of the 
first expedition, to insure which, in fact, he risked his 
own life, and made a sacrifice of the best feelings of his 
benevolent nature. 

Yet, by some unaccountable accident or oversight, 
this excellent officer was not honored with that distinc- 
tion which was conferred on his companions, Sir John 
Franklin and Sir George Back. But, whatever the 
cause of the omission may have been, it has at length 
been rectified by an application of Lord Haddington to 
Sir James Graham, to solicit her majesty to confer on 
him the honor of knighthood, which has been graciously 
granted. 

To return to the general narrative-, of which little 
now remains to be said: The end of September having 
arrived, it was deemed expedient to pass a great part of 
another winter at Fort Franklin. It proved a severe 
one. By a record in Franklin's journal, the thermom- 
eter on the morning of the 7th of February descended 
to — 58° ; it had been — 57° -5 and — 57° -3 thrice in th& 
course of this and the preceding day ; between the 5th 
and 8th its general state was from — 48° to — 52°, 
though it occasionally rose to — 43°. 

No time, however, was lost in the commencement of 
breaking up the party. Dr. Richardson was the first to 
depart; he left in December, for the purpose of joining 
Mr. Drummond, the assistant botanist, in the Saskat- 
chawan River, that he might have the benefit of an ear 



* * 



FRANKLIN & RICHARDSON'S SECOND JOURNEY. 307 

Her spring than at Fort Franklin to collect plants. On 
the 16th of February Augustus and two Dog-rib In- 
dians were sent forward. On the 20th Captain Frank- 
lin left the fort, accompanied by live of his men and two 
Indians ; and Commander Back was directed to proceed 
to York Factory, thence by the Hudson's Bay ship to 
England, taking with him the British party, and sending 
the Canadians to Montreal. 

"On quitting Norway House," says Franklin, "we 
took leave of our worthy companion Augustus. The 
tears which he shed at our parting, so unusual in those 
uncultivated, tribes, showed the strength of his feelings, 
and I have no doubt they proceeded from a sincere af- 
fection; an affection which I can venture to say was 
mutually felt by every individual." This most excellent 
young man and Ooligbuck were to be conveyed to 
Churchill to rejoin their families, and Franklin took care 
that the pay due to them was handed over to the direct- 
ors of the Hudson's Bay Company, to be distributed to 
them annually in the way suited to their wants. 

It may be proper here to introduce a few words in fa- 
vor of a neglected and unwarrantably despised race of 
men, the Esquimaux. A few samples may suffice, and 
better need not be sought for than those of Augustus, 
Junius, Ooligbuck, and Sackhouse ; and among the fe- 
males, Uigliuk. Of these, Ooligbuck was the only male 
that survived the period of the expeditions herein detail- 
ed, and he subsequently accompanied Dease and Simp- 
son, and is highly spoken of by them for his honesty, 
fidelity, and utility. Richardson greatly esteemed him. 
Junius is supposed to have perished on Franklin's first 
expedition, by losing his way, and dying of cold and hun- 
ger ; and Augustus, of whom too much can not be said, 
also perished in the same way, in his attempt to join 
Commander Back, as will be seen in the following chap- 
ter. 

On hearing that Captain Back was in the interior, pro- 
ceeding toward the sea-coast, poor Augustus set out on 
foot, in company with two others, from Hudson's Bay, 
to j oin him ; they parted, and for a long time nothing 
was heard of him, but a note from one of the Company's 
servants said, " I apprehend that poor Augustus has-been 



308 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

starved to death."* Such was the miserable end of 
poor Augustus — "a faithful, disinterested, kind-hearted 
creature, who had won the regard of all." 

Sackhouse was also a most amiable and intelligent 
young man, who died peaceably among the friends he 
had acquired in Scotland, and of whom there is an inter- 
esting biographical memoir in Blackwood's Magazine, 
supposed to have been written by the late Captain Basil 
Hall. Brought to Leith in a whaling-ship, the owners, 
pleased with his manners, paid him every attention, had 
him taught a little English, and sent him back the fol- 
lowing season, to remain or not, according to his own de- 
sire. His sister had died in his absence, and having no 
other relative living, he determined to abandon his coun- 
try and to return. On arriving at Leith he was met by 
Mr. Nasmyth, the artist, who, finding he had a taste for 
drawing, kindly offered him his instructions. On the 
recommendation of Captain Hall, he was engaged as in- 
terpreter on the first Arctic voyage, and proved so use- 
ful that he was appointed for the second voyage. In the 
mean time he visited his kind friends in Edinburgh. In 
pursuit of his studies, and in the midst of happiness, he 
was seized with an inflammatory complaint, which car- 
ried him off in a few days. 

He is described as possessing a pleasing simplicity of 
manners, a countenance expressive of good humor, to 
have been fond of society, and always desirous of learn- 
ing something. His kindness to children was very strik- 
ing : two of these he fell in with on a snowy day at some 
distance from Leith, shivering with cold. Sackhouse 
took off his jacket, and carefully wrapping them in it, 
brought them safely home. When sensible of his ap- 
proaching end, he thanked his friends around him for all 
their kindness, but said it was of no avail, for his sister 
had appeared to him and called him away. 

The writer says he was unaffectedly pious, and when 
death was approaching, he held in his hand an Icelandic 
Catechism till his strength and sight failed him, when the 
book dropped from his grasp, and he shortly afterward 
expired. 

But if any doubt could be entertained as to the supe- 

* See Back's account of the fate of this excellent man. 



FRANKLIN & RICHARDSON^ SECOND JOURNEY. 309 

riority of the Esquimaux over all other races of people 
whom we are pleased to call savages, let us turn to the 
pages of Parry, where he describes the superior intel- 
lectual faculties of that extraordinary woman Iligliuk, 
who in a moment was made to comprehend the nature 
of whatever was brought under her notice, and, amoDg 
other things, that of the compass, as being the means of 
guiding her hand to pencil out on paper the lines of two 
extensive coasts, on two opposite sides of the same land, 
united by a long strait, with islands and other particulars, 
all of which were found to be sufficiently correct to guide 
Parry to the object of his research. The eagerness 
with which her scrutinizing eye was directed to the 
forge, and the operation of welding iron, gave a strong 
proof of her inquisitive and sagacious mind. Her son 
was little inferior to herself in mental capacity. 

Indeed, the order, good conduct, and skill* of the peo- 
ple, from whom Parry received so much useful infor- 
mation, and their superiority over the general class of 
human beings, can not be denied ; nor that the means of 
instruction alone are wanting to bring them rapidly into 
a state of civilization ; but so long as they continue to be 
hemmed in to the distance of not many miles from the 
sea-coast, and by hostile and unenlightened tribes in the 
interior, their time and then* energies are wholly em- 
ployed in the means of self-defense, and self-preserva- 
tion from famine. Parry has justly contrasted those 
dark vices of savage life, ferocious cruelty, resentment, 
and revenge in the Indian, with the gentle Esquimaux : 

" When viewed more nearly in their domestic relations, the 
comparison will, I believe, be still more in their favor. It is 
here as a social being, as a husband and the father of a family, 
promoting within his own little sphere the benefit of that com- 
munity in which Providence has cast his lot, that the moral 
character of a savage is truly to be sought ; and who can turn 
without horror from the Esquimaux, peaceably seated after a 
day of honest labor with his wife and children in their snow- 
built hut, to the self-willed and vindictive Indian, wantonly 
plunging his dagger into the bosom of the helpless woman 
whom nature bids him cherish and protect ?" 

Mr. Drummond is the only one of the party that now 
remains to be noticed. From Cumberland House he ac- 

* Displayed in their construction of snow-built houses. 



310 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

companied the Company's boats with a brigade of trad- 
ers for the Columbia, determined to proceed with them 
as far as the Rocky Mountains. To Carlton House is 
two hundred and sixty miles. Leaving this on the 1st 
of September, they proceeded to Edmonton, which is 
about four hundred miles, and reached it on the 20th of 
that month. One hundred miles farther brought them 
to Assinaboin on the Red-deer River. From thence 
they proceeded up this river to the mountains ; but the 
canoe being much lumbered, it was necessary that some 
of the party should travel by land ; " and of that num- 
ber," says Mr. Drummond, '.« I volunteered to be one. r ' 
A heavy fall of snow rendered the march very fatiguing, 
and what with the woods and swamps, the horses became 
useless before they got half way. About the end of De- 
cember he took up his winter quarters on the Baptiste, 
a stream which flows into the Red-deer River. On the 
journey he says he obtained a few mosses, and on Christ- 
mas day had the pleasure of finding a veiy minute Gym- 
nostomum, hitherto undescribed : 

" In the winter I felt the inconvenience of the want of my 
tent, the only shelter I had from the inclemency of the weath- 
er being a hut built of the branches of trees. Soon after 
reaching our wintering ground provisions became very scarce, 
and the hunter and his family went off in quest of animals, 
taking with them the man who had charge of my horses, to 
bring me a supply as soon as they could procure it. I re- 
mained alone for the rest of the winter, except when my man 
occasionally visited me with meat ; and I found the time hang 
very heavy, as I had no books, and nothing could be done in 
the way of collecting specimens of natural history. I took, 
however, a walk every day in the woods, to give me some 
practice in the use of snow-shoes. The winter was very se- 
vere, and much snow fell until the end of March, when it 
averaged six feet in depth ; in consequence of this I lost one 
of .my horses, and the two remaining ones became exceed- 
ingly poor. The hunter was still more unfortunate, ten of 
his young colts having died." — P. 310. 

In the beginning of April, 1826, a fatiguing march 
brought him to the Columbia portage in six days, and 
here he received letters from Dr. Richardson, accom- 
panied with his tent, a little tea and sugar, and some more 
paper for his plants. About this time his hunter sent 



' I'RANKhiN <fc LIPCHA11DS0N J3 SECOND JOURNEY. 311 

him word tlmt he had changed his mind, and would not 
accompany him into the mountains. His plans were 
thus deranged, yet he had no alternative but to remain 
with the man, who had charge of the horses used on the 
Columbia portage, " and to botanize in that neighbor- 
hood." He resolved, however, to proceed. 

" On the 10 th of August I set out with another hunter, 
upon whom I had prevailed to conduct me to the Smoking 
River, although, being disappointed in a supply of ammuni- 
tion, we were badly provided. We traveled for several days 
without meeting with any animals, and I shared the little 
dried provision which I had with the hunter's family. On 
the 15th we killed a mountain sheep, which was quickly de- 
voured, there not being the smallest apprehension at the time 
that famine would overtake us. Day after day, however, 
passed away without a single head of game of any descrip- 
tion being seen, and the children began to complain loudly ; 
but the hunter's wife, a young half-bred woman, bore the ab- 
stinence with indifference, although she had two infant twins 
at. the breast. On the 21st we found two young porcupines, 
which were shared among the party ; and two or three days 
afterward a few fine trout were caught. We arrived in the 
Smoking River on the 5th of September, where the hunt- 
er killed two sheep, and a period was put to our abstinence, 
for before the sheep were eaten he shot several buffaloes." — 
P. 311. 

He next proceeded along the mountains, and had 
reached the head waters of the Peace River, when a 
heavy fall of snow stopped his collecting plants for that 
season. Desirous, howeyer, of crossing the mountains 
to the Columbia River, he determined to accompany the 
Columbia brigade on its arrival. He reached the port- 
age on the 9th of October, and the following day brought 
him an order from Captain Franklin to descend in the 
spring of 1827, to rejoin the expedition on its way to 
Fork Factory. He therefore went with the brigade 
merely to the west end of the portage, and returned on 
the 1st of November. The snow was too deep to per- 
mit him to add much to his collections in this hasty trip 
over the mountains ; " but it was impossible," he says, 
"to avoid remarking the great superiority of climate on 
the western side of that lofty range. From the instant 
the descent toward the Pacific commences, there is a 
visible improvement in the growth of timber, and the va- 



312 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

riety of forest-trees greatly increases. The few mosses 
that I gleaned in the excursion were so fine, that I could 
not but deeply regret that I was unable to pass a season 
or two in that interesting region." 

Another dispatch was received from Dr. Richardson, 
requesting him to join him at Carlton House in April, 
which he accordingly reached on the 5th. " We suffer- 
ed much from snow-blindness on the march, the dogs 
failed from want of food, we had to carry the baggage 
on oar backs, and had nothing to eat for seven days." 
All this is told with the greatest placidity. He seems 
only to regret that he had done so little. Yet this mod- 
est naturalist says, " My collections on the mountains 
amounted to about fifteen hundred species of plants, one 
hundred and fifty birds, fifty quadrupeds, and a consid- 
erable number of insects." 

Captain Franklin and his party, having embarked in 
the packet from New York, arrived at Liverpool on the 
24th of September, after an absense of two years, seven 
months and a half. Commander Back, Lieutenant Ken- 
dall, and Mr. Drummond, with the rest of the party, ar- 
rived at Portsmouth on the 10th of October. Franklin 
and Richardson arrived in London on the 29th of Sep- 
tember, when the charts and surveys were laid before 
his royal highness the lord-high-admiral. 

Under the guidance of such men as those employed 
on the last two expeditions, it is not necessary to say a 
word on the manner in which they have been conduct- 
ed. Information has been obtained in every department 
of science, and quite sufficient as to the main point on 
which they were undertaken, namely, in general terms, 
" to amend the defective geography of the northern 
coast of America." The Arctic voyages having com- 
menced, and as it was not unlikely that Parry, on his 
second voyage, would make an attempt to proceed along 
that coast, it was deemed advisable that an examination 
should be undertaken from the mouth of the Copper 
Mine River to the eastern part of the coast. The ques- 
tion has now been settled. The whole coast-line is one 
continued series of rocky islets, with channels between 
them mostly choked with ice, the sea beyond them also 
covered with ice, in the shape of floes and hommocs ; 



back's journey to the polar sea. 313 

reefs of rocks parallel with the beach, their intermedi- 
ate channels shallow, and in many places not navigable 
even by boats ; the weather foggy and stormy, with vio- 
lent gales of wind, so that Franklin says, after dragging 
his boats 374 miles to the westward of Mackenzie's Riv- 
er, "in all that space not a harbor exists in which a ship 
could find shelter." Dr. Richardson notices but one 
spot in the course of 800 miles — the strait of the Dol- 
phin and Union — in which there is water for large ves- 
sels ; but he says, " the navigation of it would be dan- 
gerous to ships, from the many sunken rocks which we 
observed near the southern shore." 

Dease and Simpson held out no encouragement for 
ship navigation near the coast, and they found the west- 
ern portion of it, beyond the point to which Franklin ad- 
vanced, rocky, shallow, and muddy on and near the 
beach, and the sea generally loaded with heavy ice. 
Geography and natural history have gained very largely 
by these expeditions ; and to these may be added mete- 
orology in all its aspects, including magnetism and elec- 
tricity. 



CHAPTER XII. 
COMMANDER BACK. 

1833-34-35. 



Journal of a Land Expedition to the Eastern Part of the Po- 
lar Sea, through North America to the Mouth of Back's 
River. 

To those readers who have made themselves familiar 
with the extraordinary and painfully-interesting adven- 
tures of Franklin and Richardson within the Arctic re- 
gions of North America, and along the shores of the Po- 
lar Sea, the name of Back, the associate and sharer of 
all their privations and sufferings, must also be familiar. 
In voluntarily undertaking the present expedition, he 
was fully aware of what he would probably, nay, most 
certainly have again to encounter — similar hardships in 
D i> 



314 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

his progress through the same country. The motive 
was no less honorable to his heart than the act itself was 
to his unflinching courage. 

Being in Italy, a rumor, he says, reached him from 
England that apprehensions were entertained for the 
safety of the two Ross's, the uncle and nephew, on the 
hearing of which (with a true chivalrous spirit) he has- 
tened home, for the purpose of offering his services to 
government for the conduct of an expedition in search 
of them ; and his offer was accepted. He received a 
letter from Lord Goderich, acquainting him that the 
Lords of the Admiralty had been pleased to transfer his 
services to the Colonial Department, to conduct the ex- 
pedition in question, and he was directed to undertake it, 
and also to place himself at the disposition of the govern- 
ors and committee of the Hudson's Bay Company, who 
would be desired to furnish him with the requisite re- 
sources and supplies. 

A medical person being required to take care of the 
health of the party, Mr. Richard King, in the first in- 
stance, volunteered his services, and was subsequently 
engaged, at a salary, as surgeon and naturalist to the ex- 
pedition. Three men only (two of whom were a car- 
penter and a shipwright) were taken from England. 
These five persons left on the 17th of February, 1833, 
for Liverpool, to proceed from thence in the packet to 
New York, and thence to Albany and Montreal. As 
the route usually followed by the Company's servants 
to the Great Slave Lake is the same as that of Sir A. 
Mackenzie, Commander Back observes that a detail of 
his progress so far seems to be unnecessary, that being 
the point from w T hich, he adds, the discovery properly 
begins. 

He had, however, a long journey before him from Nor- 
way House, where preparations of men, and boats, and 
sledges were made under the direction of Governor Simp- 
son, to Slave Lake ; and it would be unjust to slur over 
altogether a fatiguing journey through one of the most 
dangerous and detestable countries on the face of the 
earth — the numerous sufferings from cold and famine, 
and other hardships of various descriptions, which he 
knew from former experience he would have to encoun- 



back's journey to the polar sea. 315 

ter, and all of which he bore with a degree of cheerful- 
ness and good humor peculiar to himself. Guided by 
the noble example of his former colleagues, Franklin and 
Richardson, he never shrunk from difficulties, never 
murmured, never desponded. Like a true British sea- 
man, the greater the danger, the more firmly he stuck 
to the bark, determined to hold on, sink or swim. The 
praiseworthy object alone which he had in view took 
full possession of his mind ; and when he found at Nor- 
way House that no less than twenty men, composed of 
steersmen, carpenters, artillerymen, &c, had been al- 
ready collected to accompany him, he gives vent to this 
generous burst of exultation : 

" This was a happy day for me ; and as the canoe pushed 
off from the bank, my heart swelled with hope and joy. 
Now, for the first time, I saw myself in a condition to verify 
the kind anticipations of my friends. The preliminary diffi- 
culties had been overcome ; I was fairly on the way to the 
accomplishment of the benevolent errand on which I had 
been commissioned ; and the contemplation of an object so 
worthy of all exertion, in which I thought myself at length 
free to indulge, raised my spirits to more than an ordinary 
pitch of qjcitement." — P. 57, 58. 

The only disappointment he felt, but, at the same 
time, one that amused him, was the loss of two Cana- 
dians, former acquaintances, who presented themselves, 
almost breathless with haste, as candidates for the ser- 
vice, were accepted, and their agreements directed to 
be made out. Their wives, however, took different but 
equally effectual methods to prevent their completion, 
and to keep their husbands at home : 

" The one, a good strapping dame, cuffed her husband's 
ears with such dexterity and good will, that he was fain to 
cry peccavi, and seek shelter in a friendly tent ; the other, an 
interesting girl of seventeen, burst into tears, and with pite- 
ous sobs clung to the husband of her love, as if she would 
hold him prisoner in her arms. I had, therefore, to look else- 
where." — P. 55. 

He describes the odd assemblage of articles that were 
huddled together hi his tent; "nor was my crew," he 
says, " less motley than the furniture. It consisted of 
an Englishman, a man from Stornoway, two Canadians, 
two metifs. and three Iroquois Indians. Babel itself 



316 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

could not have produced a worse confusion of unharmo- 
nious sounds than was the conversation they kept up." 

A whole fleet of Indian canoes was met with, whose 
chief, an intelligent-looking old man, named by the trad- 
ers " Le Camarade de Mandeville," was stated to have 
an extensive knowledge of the country to the northward 
of the Great Slave Lake. He was brought with his 
Indians to Back's encampment, for the purpose of giving 
him some information of the river he was about to de- 
scend to the sea-coast. With all befitting ceremony, 
preliminaries were opened by the customary pipe ; for, 
as Back observes, " a social puff is to an Indian what a 
bottle of wine is to an Englishman — aperit prcecordia — 
it unlocks the heart and dissipates reserve." He thus 
sketches the inmates of one of the chief's canoes : 

" The tout ensemble of this ' people,' as they with some 
vanity style themselves, was wild and grotesque in the ex- 
treme. One canoe, in particular, fixed my attention ; it was 
small even for a canoe ; and how eight men, women, and 
children contrived to stow away their legs in a space not 
more than large enough for three Europeans, would have 
been a puzzling problem to one unacquainted with the sup- 
pleness of an Indian's unbandaged limbs. There, however, 
they were, in a temperature of 66°, packed heads and tails, 
like Yarmouth herrings — half naked — their hair in elf-locks, 
long and matted — filthy beyond description — and all squall- 
ing together. To complete the picture, their dogs, scarce 
one degree below them, formed a sort of body-guard on each 
side of the river ; and as the canoe glided away -with the 
current, all the animals together, human and canine, set up a 
shrill and horrible yell."— P. 79. 

One of the half-breeds, named De Charloit, is describ- 
ed as being a dexterous canoe-man in passing rapids : 
Back's canoe, though frail, and too weak to encountel 
rude shocks, " was nevertheless threaded through the 
boiling rapids and sunken rocks with fearful elegance : 
the cool dexterity with which she was managed was 
truly admirable." 

As they proceeded, the chief, "Le Camarade," gave 
them some information regarding the river, but it was 
difficult to make out the bearings of the plan he sketch- 
ed ; and when Back attempted to question and assist 
him, he at last peevishly exclaimed " that we did not 



back's journey to the polar sea. 317 

place the world as it was, whereas he kept steadily to 
the rising and setting sun." The river, however, is 
stated to have been graphically portrayed by him, as 
originating in rapids ; narrow, shoal, and dangerous ; 
destitute of wood, even for fuel ; full of perilous cascades 
and falls ; and that, after a course more tortuous than 
that of any river known to the oldest and most experi- 
enced of their tribe, it tumbled over its northern barrier 
in a foaming cataract into the sea. 

The party was now approaching the highlands, from 
which the waters take an opposite course, and from 
whence the labors which Back says had hitherto been 
so cheerfully undergone (being little more than those to 
which voyageurs are accustomed) were now to be changed 
into extraordinary efforts and patient perseverance. Cas- 
cades and rapids followed each other in quick suc- 
cession. To avoid them, it was necessary, with infinite 
labor, to force their way through woods of stunted 
swamp-fir, clambering over the fallen trees through riv- 
ulets and across swamps, getting on as well as the bur- 
dens they were obliged to carry would permit; and 
when they emerged, all was barren and desolate. On 
gaining, however, the summit of the pass, which divides 
the waters, and is of great height, such was the beauty 
of the varied outline on the northern side, "that we 
were captivated into a momentary forgetfulness of our 
fatigue." But fatigue alone was not the main cause of 
their suffering : 

" The laborious duty which had been thus satisfactorily 
performed was rendered doubly severe by the combined at- 
tack of myriads of sandflies and musquetoes, which made 
our faces stream with blood. There is certainly no form of 
wretchedness, among those to which the checkered life of a 
voyageur is exposed, at once so great and so humiliating as 
the torture inflicted by these puny blood-suckers. To avoid 
them is impossible ; and as for defending himself, though for 
a time he may go on crushing them by thousands, he can not 
long maintain the unequal conflict ; so that at last, subdued by 
pain and fatigue, he throws himself in despair with his face 
to the earth, and, half suffocated in his blanket, groans away 
a few hours in sleepless rest." — P. 117. 
' Again he says, 

" After a hard day's work, my weary crew were happy to 
D d 2 



318 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

encamp, notwithstanding the vigorous and unintevmitting as- 
saults of our faithful tormentors, the sandflies and musque toes. 
Certainly they -were pests, and sharply did they convey to us 
the moral lesson of man's helplessness ; since, with all our 
boasted strength and skill, we were unable to repel the- fee- 
ble atoms of the creation." — P. 134. 

Of the sandflies near the lakes and in the valleys he 
gives a most appalling account. He says, 

" How can I possibly give an idea of the torment we en 
dured from the sandflies? As we dived into the confined and 
suffocating chasms, or waded through the close swamps, they 
rose in clouds, actually darkening the air : to see or to spe'ak 
was equally difficult, for they rushed at every undefended 
part, and fixed their poisonous fangs in an instant. Our faces 
streamed with blood, as if leeches had been applied, and 
there was a burning and irritating pain, followed by imme- 
diate inflammation, and producing giddiness, which almost 
drove us mad. Wherever we halted, which the nature of 
the country compelled us to do often, the men, even Indians, 
threw themselves on their faces, and moaned with pain and 
agony ; for the time, I thought the tiny plagues worse even 
than musquetoes." — P. 179. 

Even the Indians have never been able to contrive any 
means of extirpating these tormenting creatures, or of 
escaping from their wounds. Their usual mode is to 
throw themselves on their faces to the ground, and to 
scream or moan with pain and agony. Back thought 
of getting rid of them by filling his tent with smoke, 
which brought to the recollection of a former attendant 
that the old chief (Franklin) would not destroy a single 
musquetoe. On which Back says, 

" It was the custom of Sir John Franklin never to kill a 
fly ; and, though teased by them beyond expression, especial- 
ly when engaged in taking observations, he would quietly de- 
sist from his work, and patiently blow the half-gorged intrud- 
ers from his hands: 'the world was wide enough for both.' 
This was jocosely remarked upon at the time by Akaitcho and 
the four or five Indians who accompanied him ; but the im- 
pression, it seems, had sunk deep, for on Maufelly's see- 
ing me fill my tent with smoke, and then throw open the 
front and beat the sides all round with leafy branches, to 
drive out the stupefied pests before I went to rest, he could 
not refrain from expressing his surpi-ise that I should be so 
unlike the old chief, who would not destroy so much as a sin 
gle musquetoe." — P. 180. 



back's journey to the polar sea. 319 

A native Indian, who had left his party at the mount- 
ains, and lost the only two charges of powder in his 
possession, and was therefore helpless, had been driven 
by necessity to follow the travelers a long journey, as 
the only chance of obtaining the means of sustaining his 
family till he could return to his friends. "Had there 
been only my wife with me," he said in a faint voice, 
" I would not have troubled the chief, for we could have 
lived upon berries ; but when I looked on my child, and 
heard its cries, my heart failed me, and I sought for 
relief." There needed no other. appeal to Commander 
B ack ; he furnished the poor man with a liberal supply 
of provisions and ammunition, and the poor fellow went 
away the happiest of his tribe. 

Having now reached the eastern shore of the Great 
Slave Lake, Mr. M'Leod was directed to prepare a 
building for their winter reception, after Back's return 
from the discovery of the source of the river which was 
to convey him to the sea-coast. He set out for this 
purpose, and after crossing numerous lakes, rapids, riv- 
ers, and frightful cataracts, arrived at a lofty hill, and 
from it saw a lake, out of which he was told one of the 
branches of the sought-for river issued. He here saw 
only a few geese, one gull, and many terns, and mus- 
quetoes like the fourth plague — innumerable. " No 
other living thing was seen or heard ; the air was calm, 
the lake unruffled ; it seemed as if Nature had fallen 
into a trance, for all was silent and motionless as death." 
The splendid lake was named Aylmer. 

The river which Back had now to descend was called 
by the natives Thlew-ee-choh, or the Fish River, and 
since has very properly been described by the Geo- 
graphical Society, and in the charts, by the name of 
Back's River, he having been the first European who 
had descended it. When he was fully satisfied, by one 
of the guides, that he had reached one Of its feeders, he 
says, " yielding to that pleasing emotion which discov- 
erers, in the first bound of their transport, may be par- 
doned for indulging, I threw myself down on the bank 
and drank a hearty draught of the limpid water." The 
main stream was speedily approached, and, as the 
month of August had expired, it became expedient, nay. 



820 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

imperative (having made this discovery), to return to 
Fort Reliance on Slave Lake, there to take up his 
winter quarters ; and here he found the framework 
erected of a convenient house, which, by the assistance 
of numerous workmen which Mr. M'Leod had assem- 
bled, was speedily completed. 

" Our hall was in a manner filled with invalids and other 
stupidly-dejected beings, who, seated round the fire, occu- 
pied themselves in roasting and devouring small bits of 
their reindeer garments, which, even when entire, afford- 
ed them a very insufficient protection against a tempera- 
ture of 102° below the- freezing point (70° below zero). 
The father torpid and despairing ; the mother with a hollow 
and sepulchral wail, vainly endeavoring to soothe the infant 
which, with unceasing moan, clung to her shriveled and ex- 
hausted breast, the passive child gazing vacantly around : 
such was one of the many groups that surrounded us." — P. 218. 

Those scenes of misery among the poor natives, for 
want of food and fuel, were more distressing to the 
feeling heart of Back than any privation that could hap- 
pen to himself. The old, the sick, and the miserable 
had heard of him, and were not long in finding their 
way to the house of the white man, to obtain that relief 
from starvation which, in seasons of distress, it would 
be hopeless to seek for among their own countrymen. 

The sufferings of the poor Indians at this period are 
not to be described. " Famine, with her gant and 
bony arm," says Back, " pursued them at every turn, 
withered their energies, and strewed them lifeless on 
the cold bosom of the snow." Nine had fallen victims, 
and others were on the eve of perishing, when the old 
chief Akaitcho came to their relief. 

To add to the distress of Back, he received informa- 
tion that his friend Augustus, the former affectionate 
Esquimaux interpreter, hearing of his being again in the 
country, set out from Hudson's Bay in company with a 
Canadian and ah Iroquois ; they lost their way, were 
separated r and poor Augustus fell a sacrifice to famine. 
His remains were found on the barrens not far from the 
Riviere a Jean. It appeared that the gallant little fel- 
low was retracing his steps to the establishment, when, 
either exhausted by suffering and privation, or caught 
in the midst of an open traverse in one of those terrible 



BACKUS JOURNEY TO THE POL A It SEA. 321 

snow-storms, which may be almost said to blow through 
the frame, he had sunk to rise no more. " Such," says 
Back, " was the miserable end of poor Augustus ! a 
faithful, disinterested, kind-hearted creature, who had 
Won the regard, not of myself only, but, I may add, of 
Sir J. Franklin and Dr. Richardson also, by qualities 
which, wherever found, in the lowest as in the highest 
forms of social life, are the ornament and charm of hu- 
manity" — qualities, it must be said, that were found in 
full vigor in the kind-hearted Back. " Often," said he, 
on another occasion, " did I share my own plate with 
the children, whose helpless state and piteous cries 
were peculiarly distressing. Compassion for the full- 
grown may or may not be felt, but that heart must be 
cased in steel which is insensible to the cry of a child 
for food." 

His own party had a full share of the general distress ; 
their rations were deplorably reduced ; but this, how- 
ever, produced no complaining, no sullen or sulky looks 
in the brave fellows he had engaged in England and in 
Canada. They had none of those means so skillfully 
employed by Parry on board ship to keep up the spirits 
of the men ; but no objection was raised to the forma- 
tion of an evening school ; on the contrary, it was con- 
sidered as an amusement, that tended to the mainte- 
nance of their cheerful and general good spirits. 

About the middle of April active preparations were 
begun for their intended journey to the sea-coast ; and 
while so employed, a messenger on the 25th of that 
month brought a packet for Back, which contained the 
unexpected and welcome intelligence of the safety of 
Ross and his party. The hurry and excitement of his 
feelings on the occasion he thus describes : 

" In the fullness of our hearts we assembled together, and 
iumbly offered up our thanks to that merciful Providence 
»vhich, in the beautiful language of Scripture, hath said, ' Mine 
jwn will I bring again, as I did sometime from the deeps of 
ihe sea.' The thought of so wonderful a preservation over- 
powered for a time the common occurrences of life. We had 
just sat down to breakfast; but our appetite was gone, and 
the day was passed in a feverish state of excitement. Seldom, 
indeed, did my friend Mr. King or I indulge in a libation, 
but on this joyful occasion economy was forgotten; a treat 
21 



322 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

was given to the men, and for ourselves the social sympathies 
were quickened by a generous bowl of punch." — P. 245. 

On the 7th of June, Back, accompanied by Mr. King, 
left Fort Reliance, each delighted, as may well be ima- 
gined, in escaping from scenes of suffering and death, 
from heart-rending care and vexatious disappointment. 
" Before me," he says, "were novelty and enterprise ; 
hope, curiosity, and the love of adventure were my com- 
panions ; and even the prospect of difficulties and dan- 
gers to be encountered, with the responsibility insepara- 
ble from command, instead of damping, rather height- 
ened the enjoyment of the moment." On the 28th of 
June the boat was carried over the last portage which 
divides the northern streams from the southern ones, 
into the latter of which she was to be lanched, it being 
the river which he had discovered, the Thlew-ee-choh, 
or, as appropriately now named, Back's River, and which 
was to convey them into the Polar Sea. 

A singular remark is here made regarding the tem- 
perature. About the end of May, just before they set 
out, the weather was sultry, the temperature in the sun 
being 106° ; an extraordinary contrast, he observes, to 
that of the 17th of January, when it was 70° below 
zero ! extremes so much in excess from any recorded, 
that the correctness of the instrument may be doubted. 
They now experienced the weather to be cold, thick, 
and foggy. On clearing up, they were overjoyed to dis- 
cover the branching antlers of twenty reindeer on the 
summit of the adjacent hills. To see and pursue was 
the work of a moment. 

" It was a beautiful and interesting sight, for the sua shone 
out, and, lighting up some parts, cast others into deeper shade : 
the white ice reflected millions of dazzling rays ; the rapid 
leaped and chafed in little ripples, which melted away into 
the unruffled surface of the slumbering lake ; abrupt and crag- 
gy rocks frowned on the right; and on the left, the brown 
landscape receded until it was lost in the distant blue mount- 
ains. The foreground was filled up with the ochre-colored 
lodges of the Indians, contrasting with our own pale tents ; 
and to the whole scene animation was given by the graceful 
motions of the unstartled deer, and the treacherous cowling 
of the wary hunters." — P. 307. 

Mr. M'Leod had assembled some hunters, tc ieturn 



back's journey to the polar sea. 3^3 

to the fort by the best way to meet with musk-oxen, the 
scarcity of animals increasing as Back proceeded to the 
north. Among the group of Indians he met with an old 
acquaintance, formed when with Franklin, who went by 
the name of Green Stockings, whose mother was afraid 
that if the portrait he drew of her went to England, the 
king would send for the original. 

" Though surrounded by a family, with one urchin in her 
cloak clinging to her back, and sundry other maternal accom- 
paniments, I immediately recognized her, and called her by 
her name ; at which she laughed, and said ' she was an old 
woman now ;' begging, at the same time, that she might be 
relieved by the ' medicine man, for she was very much out of 
health.' However, notwithstanding all this, she was still the 
beauty of the tribe ; and with that consciousness which be- 
longs to all belles, savage or polite, seemed by no means dis- 
pleased when I sketched her portrait." — P. 307. 

From this time till their approach to the sea, a con- 
stant succession of falls, and rapids, and cataracts more or 
less obstructed their progress, and, as Back says, " made 
him hold his breath, expecting to see the boat dashed to 
shivers against some protruding rocks amid the foam and 
fury at the foot of a rapid." In passing down one of 
these, where the river was full of large rocks and bowl- 
ders, the boat was obliged to be lightened ; and Back says, 
" I stood on a high rock, with an anxious heart, to see 
her run it. Away they went with the speed of an ar- 
row, and in a moment the foam and rocks hid them from 
my view. I heard what sounded in my ear like a wild 
shriek ; I followed with an agitation which may be con- 
ceived, and, to my inexpressible joy, found that the shriek 
was the triumphant whoop of the crew, who had landed 
safely in a small bay below." In short, strong and heavy 
rapids, with falls and whirlpools, kept the men, for eighty 
or ninety miles, in a constant state of exertion and anx- 
iety. 

He gives an instance on one occasion of the consum- 
mate skill of De Charloit, who 

" ran our rickety and shattered canoe down four successive 
rapids, which, under less able management, would have 
whirled it, and .every body in it, to certain destruction. Noth- 
ing could exceed the self-possession and nicety of judgment 
with which he guided the frail thing along the narrow line 



324 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

between the high waves of the torrent and the returning eddy. 
A foot in either direction would have been fatal ; but with 
the most perfect ease, and, I may add, elegant and graceful 
action, his keen eyes fixed upon the run, he kept her true to 
her course through all its rapid windings." — P. 165. 

At length, however, they reached the last and most 
formidable of rapids ; and here they fell in with a party 
of those treacherous Esquimaux against whom the In- 
dian chief had so urgently cautioned him. He landed, 
and notwithstanding their brandished spears, and yells, 
and wild gesticulations, walked up to them, calling out 
teyma — peace. In an instant their spears were flung on 
the ground ; and, placing their hands on their breasts, 
they also called out teyma. He made them understand 
.they were Kabloonas — Europeans, and not Indians ; and 
he says, " as they did not, like their neighbors to the 
North, go through the ceremony of rubbing (not pulling) 
noses by way of salutation, I adopted the John Bull fash- 
ion of shaking each of them heartily by the hand." A 
few presents were given to them ; and Back went to 
their tents, introduced himself to their women and chil- 
dren, and had every reason to believe he had obtained 
their confidence. Their numbers, he thinks, were alto- 
gether about thirty-five. 

These good-natured and friendly people were of the 
most essential service to Captain Back ; for information 
being brought to him from the leading man of the boat 
that, so perilous was the cataract now to be passed, no 
boa,t could descend it, and that the crew were utterly 
unequal to the task of conveying it over the long and 
steep portage — " Taking advantage," he says, " of the 
good humor of our new acquaintances, I requested them 
to give us a helping hand. The request was cheerfully 
complied with, and, with their assistance, we succeeded 
in carrying the boat below the fall, so that, in reality, I 
was indebted to them for getting to the sea at all." 

Having parted from the Esquimaux on the 28th of 
July, on the following day they got sight of a lofty head- 
land at a great distance to the north, apparently on the 
eastern side of the river, which they conjectured to be 
one side of the opening into the sea, and it proved to be 
so. To this promontory Back gave the name of Vic to- 



back's journey to the polar sea. 325 

ria, in honor of the princess royal ; and on the arrival of 
the party at this point, Back thus sums up a general view 
of this impetuous river of rapids, cascades, and cata- 
racts : 

" This, then, may be considered as the mouth of the Thlew- 
ee-choh, which, after a violent and tortuous course of five 
hundred and thirty geographical miles, running through an 
iron-ribbed country, without a single tree on the whole line 
of its banks, expanding into fine large lakes with clear hori- 
zons, most embarrassing to the navigator, and broken into 
falls, cascades, and rapids to the number of no less than eighty- 
three in the whole, poius its waters into the Polar Sea in lati- 
tude 67° 11' 00" N., and longitude 94° 30' 0" W. ; that is to 
say, about thirty-seven miles more south than the mouth of 
the Copper Mine Kiver, and nineteen miles more south than 
that of Back's River, at the lower extremity of Bathurst's In- 
let."— P. 390. 

" Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof;" but, with 
the appalling reflection of having to return up, and in op- 
position to, no less than eighty-three falls, cascades, and 
rapids, instead of dashing down them as hitherto, it re- 
quired no moderate share of firmness and resolution to 
persevere in the attempt to renew the same route, at so 
advanced a period as the month of August. A bluff point 
on the eastern side of the estuary, which he called Cape 
Hay, he considered to be the northern extreme, but 
Dease and Simpson subsequently discovered a consider- 
able length of coast beyond it. For ten days the weath- 
er continued chilly, wet, and foggy, and the estuary was 
so blocked up with ice as to prevent any northern prog- 
ress being made. The shores of this desolate region pro- 
duced nothing but reindeer-moss and a species of fern, 
both so soaked with wet that they would not burn, and 
therefore the party had no means of cooking any thing, 
not even of boiling a little water for tea. For a whole 
week they had but one hot meal. 

In this cheerless and miserable condition, surrounded 
on every side by prospects of ice, snow, and complete 
desolation, without fire or the means of making it — with- 
out any kind of warm fo^d, solid or liquid — with heavy 
showers of rain followed by thick snow, no wonder that 
Commander Back should say, " It can not be a matter of 
astonishment, and much less of blame, that even the best 
E E 



326 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

men, benumbed in their limbs, and dispirited by the 
dreary and unpromising prospect before them, broke out 
for a moment into low murmurings that theirs was a 
hard and painful duty." 

No one can be surprised that, in such a state of pri- 
vation and suffering. Back was prevented from carrying 
into effect, or even undertaking, what had been his inten- 
tion, viz., that of proceeding coastwise to Point Turn- 
again, to complete the unfinished part left by Franklin. 
He sent, however, a small party to the westward to trace 
the coast, which was all that could be done ; but they 
were only able to follow the shore about fifteen miles 
with every exertion they could use and the most severe 
labor, sinking into snow and swampy ground midleg at 
every step. The surface was level, and void of vegeta- 
tion. They found, however, several pieces of drift- 
wood, one of which was nine feet long and nine inches 
in diameter, which the men jocularly called " a piece of 
the North Pole." Back was persuaded that the fact of 
the drift-wood at this point of North America establishes 
the continuity of the coast from the mouth of the Mac- 
kenzie River, and of the current which could alone have 
brought it. 

The drift-wood found on the whole of the southern 
coast of the Polar Sea, from Mackenzie's River to Point 
Turn-again, was fully ascertained to have been brought 
entirely from the westward, not only from the Macken- 
zie, but also, as we know from Simpson, down the nu- 
merous rivers falling from the Rocky Mountains ; the 
easterly current setting through Behring's Strait carries 
this drift-timber to the extreme easterly end of the 
American coast Admiral Krusenstern, in 1823, in re- 
ply to a question put to him on this subject regarding 
two Russian ships that had gone from the coast of Asia 
into the Strait of Behring, writes, " with respect to the 
currents in these straits, they have been observed con- 
stantly to set on the coast of Asia to the N.W. ; near 
the coast of America, to the N.E. ; and off Icy Cape, 
near which the ships remained four days, due east, at 
the rate of 25 and 30 miles a day." 

The extreme point seen to the northward, on the 
western side of the estuary, Back named Cape Richard- 



back's JOURNEY TO THE POL Alt SEA. 327 

son, which, he says, is in lat. 68° 46', long. 96° 20' W. 
Another point a little to the westward of this he named 
Maconochie, and thinks there is reason to believe that 
between them and Point James Ross a passage exists 
— a conjecture fully verified by Dease and Simpson hav- 
ing sailed through it in the year 1839. But of the dis- 
coveries of these gentlemen hereafter. Captain Back 
is also correet in describing an open sea to the eastward 
as far as the spacious eastern extremity of Simpson's 
Strait, and also beyond it to the Gulf of Akkoolee. As 
a farther proof of an open sea, free of land, he says that 
.n gale of wind from the eastward swept a whole field of 
ice from that gulf past Back's Estuary, which, how- 
<ever, a westerly gale brought back again, and it disap- 
peared. 

Pinned down as he was to this miserable spot, when 
nothing more could be done, " I felt," he says, " I had 
no choiee ; and, assembling the men, I informed them 
that the period fixed by his majesty's government for my 
return had arrived, and it now only remained to unfurl 
the British flag, and salute it with three eheers, in hon- 
or of his most gracious majesty, giving his royal name 
of William the Fourth's Land to this part of America." 

On the 15th of August the ice in the estuary had suf- 
iiciently parted to allow the boat to proceed, and with 
.open water and a fair wind, they made about twenty 
miles to the southward, in commencing their return, 
" where, for a second time in nine days," Baek says, 
-" we partook of a warm meal." The many difficulties 
they had experienced in falling down the river were at 
least doubled in the labor of going against the stream ; 
rocks and rapids, and sand-banks, with numerous porta- 
ges, were all again to be encountered. " One day," 
Back says, "we ascended between sixteen and twenty 
rapids." It would be a waste of the reader's time, and 
a trial of his patience, to repeat what has already been 
said regarding this river. 

Having ascended the high grounds whieh divide the 
northern from the southern streams, the Aylmer, the 
Artillery, and the Clinton Golden Lakes embellish the 
landscape, and discharge their waters into the Great 
jSlave Lake. Here Back describes, and gives a print of, 



* 



328 ARCTIC VOYAGES: 

a splendid cascade, which he names Parry's Falls, ami 
says it is one of the grandest objects in nature. 

" The color of the water varied from a very light to a very 
dark green ; and the spray, which spread a dimness above,, 
was thrown up in clouds of light gray. Niagara, Wilbe'r- 
force's Falls in Hood's River, the tails of Kakabikka near 
Lake Superior, the Swiss or Italian falls, although they may 
each ' charm the eye with dread,' are not to be compared to- 
this for splendor of effect. It was the most imposing specta- 
cle I had ever witnessed ; and as its berg-like appearance 
brought to mind associations of another scene, I bestowed 
upon it the name of our celebrated navigator, Sir Edward 
Parry, and called it Parry's Falls." — P. 453. 

As they proceeded, the Indians brought them provi- 
sions from time to time ; and the good old chief Akaitcho, 
with his followers, though not very successful, was not 
wanting in his contributions. This old friend to Sir 
John Franklin was undergoing the usual course which 
old age and weakness inflict on all the Indian chiefs. 

"He is no longer the same active and important person 
that he was in those days ; for, besides the infirmities that 
have crept upon him, he has grown peevish and fickle. His- 
once absolute authority is consequently reduced to a shadow ; 
and with the exception of his sons and his own family, he can 
scarcely boast of a single subject or adherent in his summer 
excursions to hunt- During winter, however, the clan still 
keep together as formerly." — P. 456. 

The Indians believe in the existence of One Great 
Spirit, who rewards the good and punishes the evil- 
doer. Back says, that, speaking with the Camarade de 
Mandeville, a potent Chipewyan chief, regarding the 
due observance of certain moral precepts for his future 
guidance, he listened with most profound attention and 
gravity. Having concluded, he raised his head a little, 
and, with eyes fixed on the floor, said,, in a low and 
solemn tone, " The chief's words have sunk deep into 
my heart, and I shall often think of them when I am 
alone. It is true that I am ignorant ; but I never lie 
down at night in my lodge without whispering to the 
Great Spirit a prayer for forgiveness, if I have done any 
thing wrong that day." This heathen may be said t& 
have had no religion, but his feelings and practice were 
the dictates of a genuine piety. 



BACKS JOURNEY TO THE POLAR SEA, 32$ 

On the 24th of June Back reached Norway House, 
and having arranged the Company's accounts, set out for 
Montreal, where, in his passage through the United 
States, he received the kindest attentions. He left New 
York on the 17th of August, and arrived at Liverpool on 
the 8th of September, after an absence of two years 
and nearly seven months. Mr. King, with eight of the 
men, reached England in the Hudson's Bay Company's 
ship in October. His majesty honored Back with an au- 
dience, and expressed his approbation of his efforts, first 
in the cause of humanity, and next in that of geographi- 
cal and scientific research. 

In glancing over the subjects of natural history men- 
tioned in the Appendix — the quadrupeds, birds, and fish- 
es described in England by Dr. Richardson, the insects 
by Mr. Children, and the plants by Sir William Hooker 
— it is impossible not to bestow the highest degree of 
praise on Mr. King, who, with great exertion and dili- 
gence in collecting, and careful attention in preserving 
them, must have undergone much labor and constant 
anxiety. Dr. Richardson says, " Those specimens were 
all carefully prepared by Mr. Richard King, surgeon to 
the expedition, who deserves the thanks of zoologists for 
devoting so much time and labor to the promotion of the 
science." 

E e2 



ARCTIC VOYAGES. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
CAPTAIN GEORGE BACK. 

1836-37. 

Narrative of an Expedition in H. M. S. Terror, undertak- 
en with a view to Geographical Discovery on the Arctic 
Shores. 

^his voyage was recommended by the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society to the colonial secretary, and by him 
to the Lords of the Admiralty. The object of the so- 
ciety was nearly the same as that on which Captain Ly- 
on had been employed ; and the Admiralty having sup- 
plied a ship, the Terror, furnished him also with instruc- 
tions, the general import of which was, that he should 
proceed in the first instance to Wager River or Repulse 
Bay, as he should find most expedient; observing, how- 
ever, that, at Salisbury Island, " you will have to choose 
between the direct and obvious course up Frozen Strait, 
which was performed with apparent ease by the Fury 
and Hecla in 1821, or the more circuitous route by the 
Welcome, which was unsuccessfully attempted by the 
Griper in 1824." Captain Back, having this choice, 
from such high authority — success on the one hand, and 
failure on the other — could scarcely venture to hesitate 
in his decision ; he unfortunately, though naturally 
enough, made choice of the former, or easy route. 
Whichsoever of the two bays, Repulse or Wager, he 
should be able to reach (and neither of them did he 
reach), the Terror was to be left with an officer, to take 
charge of her, and to employ himself in making surveys 
and observations, while the captain, with a large party, 
should cross the intervening land to the eastern shore of 
Prince Regent's Inlet, sending one party to the north as 
far as the Fury and Hecla Strait, and the other to pur- 
sue the continental coast-line to the mouth or estuary 
of Back's River, and its continuation as far as the Point 
Turn-again of Franklin. These were the objects of the 
voyage, as pointed out by the Geographical Society. 



back's attempt to reach repulse bay. 331 

The details of the instructions are not necessary to be 
stated, as the object of them failed; but one remark is 
made in them, which can not always, however advisable, 
be complied with : it is their lordships' full belief that all 
the service detailed may be fully and faithfully perform- 
ed in the course of the present season, and " that this 
Arctic expedition may be distinguished from all others by 
the promptitude of its execution, and by escaping from 
the gloomy and unprofitable waste of eight months' de- 
tention.; it is therefore our distinct orders that every ef- 
fort shall be made to return to England in the fall of this 
year." The old proverb may here be applied : " Man 
proposes, but God disposes." Back and his associates 
not only wintered, but were wedged up by massive ice 
in the wide ocean for nine whole months, from October 
to July, four of which were spent on " an icy cradle," 
as Captain Back graphically calls it ; many scenes are 
also graphically and beautifully expressed, in numerous 
exquisite prints by Lieutenant (now Captain) Smyth. 
Yet the Terror has survived it all, was three or four 
years in the Antarctic Ocean, and is now with Sir John 
Franklin in the Polar Seas. 

On the present occasion she was commanded, officer- 
ed, and manned as follows : 

George Back, Captain. 

William Smyth, } 

Owen Stanley, V Lieutenants. 

Arch. M'Murdo, ) 

Graham Gore, ~i 

Robert M'Clure, > Mates. 

Peter Fisher, ) 

Charles Marcuard, Extra Mate. 

James Donovan, Surgeon. 

J. A. Mould, Assistant Surgeon. 

William Lawes, Clerk in Charge. 

James Saunders, Acting Master. 

12 Officers. 

4 Warrant Officers. 

13 Petty Officers. 

44 Seamen and Marines. 
73 Total. 

It may as well be at once stated, that Smyth and Stan- 
ley are now captains ; Fisher and M'Murdo, command- 
ers ; Gore, M'Clure, and Marcuard, lieutenants ; J. A. 
Mould, surgeon ; Wm. Lawes, paymaster and purser ; 
Jas. Saunders, master. 



332 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

On the 14th of June, 1836, the Terror left Chatham, 
and on the 28th of July crossed Davis's Strait. On that 
evening, when the weather cleared up, Back says, " We 
observed an enormous iceberg, the perpendicular face of 
which was not less than 300 feet high." Enormous in- 
deed : in what depth of water could it be, or had it been 
floating ? The next morning is described as beautifully 
fine, " the tall ship, with all her sails set, threading her 
graceful way through the masses of ice, upon a sea as 
smooth as an inland lake." A very different scene quickly 
succeeded on approaching that universally-detested Res- 
olution Island, with its dense fogs and its whirlpools, toss- 
ing about masses of ice, sweeping the ship among them, 
and rendering her utterly unmanageable. Having got 
clear of all the impediments, they proceeded as far as 
the Savage Islands, where an iceberg either toppled over 
or parted with a large mass from its summit ; " and the 
splash in the water, the foam which succeeded, and the 
fearful rocking of the berg before it again settled upon 
its base, gave us some notion of danger." 

Near these islands a fleet of kaiyacks and oomiaks 
hailed them, as usual, with vociferous cries of teyma. 
Back gives them the same bad character they had re- 
ceived from Lyon and others : " The women, in partic- 
ular, were more outrageous than I had ever observed be- 
fore ; for, besides disposing of their garments, which they 
never hesitated to do, more than one actually offered to 
barter their children for a few needles." A young wom- 
an, observing that one of the officers had not much hair 
on his head, offered to supply him with her own at the 
price of a curtain-ring. These are the same Hudson's 
Strait Esquimaux which Lyon describes, and from whom 
he obtained carved figures of a dog and bear ; and it is 
remarkable enough to find Baffin, in the year 1615, re- 
cording that, near the Savage Islands, " Among the tents 
I found a little bagge, in which was a company of little 
images of men ; one the image of a woman with a child 
at her backe, all the which I brought away."* 

On the 14th of August they fell in with Nottingham 
Island, which is close by Salisbury Island, the place where 
Back's instructions pointed out the two routes for his 
* Barrow's Chronological History of Arctic Voyages. 



BAOKti ATTEMPT TO REACH REPULSE BAY. 333 

choice ; and unluckily, as has been said, he pitched upon 
that which was to lead him " with ease" through the 
Frozen Strait. Then* course was now northwest ; and 
they proceeded without much difficulty past the Trinity 
Islands, and beyond them as far north as lat. 65° 25', and 
opposite to, but some distance from, the opening of Fro- 
zen Strait. The ship was forced toward it through 
floes of ice, " boring" as they went along, their object 
being to get near to Southampton Island, sometimes 
beset, and occasionally getting into a lake of water. 

On the 5th of September they were firmly fixed in 
the ice ; and the whole of the officers, " with axes, ice- 
chisels, handspikes, and long poles, began the laborious 
process of cutting away the sludge that bound the pieces 
together." The weather was thick, and though they 
knew themselves to be near the coast, they could not 
tell precisely whereabout they were, for their compasses 
were not to be trusted. On the evening of the 13th of 
September the Cape Comfort of Baffin bore north-north- 
east, and they were not more than five miles from the 
nearest rocks. Thumped about among hommocs of ice, 
and "severely nipped," Back says : 

" At this time we appeared to be not more than four miles 
from the land, which was broken into exposed bays, utterly 
without shelter from the north, and blocked up with close- 
packed ice. Not a pool of water was visible in any direction : 
to the mercy of Providence alone could we look for rescue 
from our perilous situation. None but those who have expe- 
rienced it can judge of the weariness of heart, the blank of 
feeling, the feverish sickliness of taste, which gets the better 
of the whole man under circumstances such as these. Not an 
incident occurred to relieve for a moment the dull monotony 
of our unprofitable detention." — P. 98. 

Half the month of September had now slipped away, 
" and we were held still within sight of the same land, as 
if it were in the grasp of a giant :" a grasp which, from 
this time for eight or ten months to come, was as obsti- 
nately and firmly fixed as that of the Old Man of the Sea 
on the shoulders of Sindbad the Sailor. That same land 
was Cape Comfort, which Back had but too much reason 
to call " a most inappropriate name ;" for, helpless as the 
ship was, wedged in between blocks of ice, and driven 
one day on one side and the next on the other of the 



» 



384 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

cape of this obnoxious name, and sometimes within 
three or four miles of it, he had reason to apprehend 
the worst consequences. For the whole of September, 
in fact, he was whirled about from Cape Comfort to 
Cape Bylof and Baffin's Island, and back again ; and 
during all this whirling backward and forward, just as 
the wind, or the current, or the tide directed, his case 
was almost hopeless. Seeing the growing peril of his 
situation, Captain Back took the opinion of his officers 
as to the probability of any farther progress being made 
that season to Repulse Bay : their unanimous convic- 
tion, from the experience of the thirty-four days in 
which the ship had been beset, was, that any thing more 
with that view was utterly impracticable ; and they 
suggested the adoption of certain precautions in the 
event of their being obliged to have recourse to the 
boats for safety. 

It was now pretty obvious that there was but small 
chance for any escape from the " giant" for nine or ten 
months to come, and Back therefore made up his mind 
to cut a dock in a favorable large floe, which the ice- 
mate told him was the only one sufficiently strong for 
the purpose, and that the ship would be protected as 
long as it held together. Fortunately, however, the 
very next day a general commotion took place, when 
the whole body of ice separated into single masses, 
tossed into heaps, or ground into powder, and crushed 
every thing that opposed them, rushing violently to the 
westward, directly up the Frozen Strait ; and thus 
ended for a time the projected floating dock, the floe 
having wholly disappeared ; but others soon supplied its 
place, and the Terror was as fast as ever, without the 
labor of digging a dock. " Thus," says Back, " ended a 
month of vexation, disappointment, and anxiety, to me 
personally more distressing and intolerable than the 
worst pressure of the worst evils which had befallen 
me in any other expedition." 

The month of November having commenced, it be- 
came necessary to set about a warming apparatus for the 
ship ; but the experiment woefully failed. They were 
still off Cape Comfort, and so near the shore that the 
people strolled over the ice to it; and Lieutenant Stan- 



BACKS ATTEMPT TO REACH REPULSE BAY. 335 

ley went to survey a harbor, which he found a mile and 
a half long, by half a mile broad, and to which was giv- 
en the name of Smyth's Harbor. On the 14th, the pack 
which had hurried them about had taken them, accord- 
ing to Lieutenant Stanley's measurement, within 3650 
yards of the inaccessible cliffs of Cape Comfort, on 
which there was reason to apprehend that the ice might 
strike, break up, and wreck the ship ; but she rested se- 
cure on her icy cradle, where she lay passively before 
the Comfortable Cape. On the 21st of November, in 
order to fix the minds of the crew on some object for 
employment, Back ordered them to build up snow walls 
and galleries on the floe ; and these being for the com- 
fort of all, the work was cheerfully undertaken, and the 
exercise had a beneficial effect on their health. 

They may now be considered to have taken up their 
long winter quarters, of nine months at least, on a float- 
ing floe of ice ; and Back, wisely recollecting the exam- 
ple of Parry, with the same view induced the officers to 
assist him in contriving some amusement for the men. 
They cheerfully assisted, and the farce of Monsieur Ton- 
son was got up. It was ushered in with an appropriate 
prologue by Lieutenant Smyth, and set off with scen- 
ery by the brush of that accomplished artist ; and th6 
piece is stated to have gone off with hearty laughter, 
plentiful plaudits, and at the conclusion with three hearty 
cheers. This is as it ought to be ; and so is the even- 
ing school instituted under the superintendence of Lieu- 
tenant Smyth, and occasionally visited by Back. 

About two months before this, say about the middle 
of October, Captain Back gave his ship's company a very 
unfavorable character, which cheerfulness and occupa- 
tion would seem to have had the effect of reforming : in 
point of fact, they were mostly undisciplined colliers, 
and almost equally undisciplined whale fishermen ; he 
had only a few " men-of-war men," " who were worth 
the whole together." 

" The want of discipline and attention to personal comfort 
were most conspicuous ; and though the wholesome regula- 
tions practiced in his majesty's service were most rigidly at- 
tended to in the Terror, yet such was the unsociability, 
though without any ill will, that it was only by a steady and 



'. 



336 arctic Voyages. 

undeviatiug system pursued by the first lieutenant that they 
were brought at all together with the feelings of messmates. 
.... [Reciprocity of kindness, a generous and self-deny- 
ing disposition, a spirit of frankness, a hearty and above- 
board manner— these are the true characteristics of the Brit 
ish seamen ; and the want of these is seldom compensated 
by other qualities. In our case — and I mention this merely 
to show the difference of olden and modern times — there 
were only three or four in the ship who could not write ; all 
read ; some recited whole pages of poetry ; others sang 
French songs 5 yet with all this, had they been left to them- 
selves, I verily believe a more unsociable, suspicious, and un- 
comfortable set of people could not have been found. Oh ! 
if the two are incompatible, give me the old Jack Tar, who 
would stand up for his ship, and give his life for his mess- 
mate."— P. 128, 129. 

The weather and their situation were such now as to 
bring even these reprobates to their senses : the ther- 
mometer was at — 53°, making the rapid extraction of 
heat beyond endurance, and causing the faces to be frost- 
bitten ; and the fireplaces were so ill contrived as to af- 
ford no salutary heat ; they created, moreover, " a fetid 
and impure atmosphere, that lurked in the lower parts 
of the deck :" all the while the Terror was tossing about 
on a field of ice, twelve or fourteen miles to the east- 
ward of that detestable Cape Comfort. Under such 
comforts, the want of cheerfulness among such persons 
is not to be wondered at ; but it may also have arisen, as 
Back suggests, from their never having been subject to 
the salutary influence of naval discipline. " It was in 
vain," he says, " we endeavored to lead them into the 
wholesome habit of amusing themselves with games or 
dancing, to cheer their spirits, and while away the long 
hours of our winter evenings." 

On the 11th of January they found the Terror had 
been can'ied upon her ice-wagon to within three miles 
of Ridge Cliff, which would appear to be at the entrance 
of Stanley Harbor, about thirty miles to the southward 
of the interminable Cape Comfort. In February the 
cold was intense ; the thermometer descended to — 54° ; 
several were on the sick-list, and Mr. Donaldson, a gun- 
ner, who had served with Parry, died. Well might 
Back begin to feel uncomfortable : " the eight months 









BACK'S ATTEMPT TO REACH REPULSE BAY. 337 

since we left England seemed longer than any three 
years of my former not unadventurous life ; days were 
weeks, weeks months, months almost years." But the 
worst was yet to come, and but just commencing : an 
opening in the floe was observed within forty paces of 
the ship ; " a most unpromising sight, followed by innu- 
merable cracks," which left no doubt " that the bulwark 
of our security had been shattered." 

It still held together for three or four days, and, crazy 
as it was, carried them within sight of Sea-horse Point, 
the southern extreme of Southampton Island, when, on 
the 18th of February, the crashing of the ice at the east- 
ern edge of the floe was alarmingly loud, followed by a 
hoarse rushing sound, and several severe shocks against 
the ship ; and it is added, " the rent in the ice now 
formed one continuous line of separation, directly through 
the center on which the ship was mounted." 

" The ship now began to complain, and strained consider- 
ably under the counter. She then heeled over to port, and 
relieved herself about six inches from the starboard embank- 
ment against the side, making by the effort gaping rents 
through the snow walls. At this time, the crashing, grind- 
ing, and rushing noise beneath, as weU as at the borders of 
the floe, the rents and cracks in all directions toward the ship, 
herself suffering much, the freezing cold of — 33°, combined 
to render our situation not a little perilous and uncomforta- 
ble."— P. 224. 

The cracking, and groaning, and complaining of the 
poor Terror, and the interminable ice in which she was 
fixed, reminds one of the " Ancient Mariner" of Cole- 
ridge ; 

" The ice was here, 
The ice was there, 

The ice was all around 4 
It cracked and growled, 
And roared and howled, 

Like noises ia a swound." 

The shock ended by the ice breaking up into masses, 
and striking the ship violently every moment ; and that 
which remained all round was so splintered and jagged, 
that to put a boat upon it was out of the question. No 
means, therefore, were left to convey any thing to the 
land, distant at least seven or nine miles ; and Back says, 
" I think it at least doubtful whether any one, even with- 
22 F f 



338 ARCTIC VOYAGES, 

out encumbrance, could have reached it," On the 20th 
of February the whole of the ice was again in motion, 
and separated itself entirely from the starboard side of 
the ship, throwing down and carrying away these em- 
bankments, galleries, and walls of snow which had been 
erected for their convenience, exercise, and amusement ; 
" some of the galleries," says Back, " were now floating 
in the water, looking like tunnels. To find ourselves at 
freedom to move would, two months later, have been the 
summit of our wishes ; but now we saw it with reluct- 
ance, as it only mocked us with a hope which could not 
be realized, while it involved us in immediate peril." 
The ship, however, was now in the water, and subject 
to the nips and rubs of the masses, which are stated to 
have returned against her with accumulated force, and 
" to make her crack fore and aft with hideous creaking, 
that for some seconds held us in suspense for the result." 

It would appear, however, from the continued crack- 
ing of the ship when the ice was still, and from her be- 
ing lifted bodily, in one of these commotions, eighteen 
inches, that she had still the base of the floe to rest upon ; 
and though frequently " squeezed" and repeatedly 
" nipped," she was at intervals jerked up " from the 
pressure underneath, with a groan each time from the 
woodwork." The enduring Terror continued day after 
day to receive this kind of treatment without any in- 
creasing leakage, which seemed to prove she was still 
out of the water ; this was made manifest on the 1st of 
March, when " she became so hampered with ice un- 
derneath, that the remainder of the floe, on either side, 
moved about eight or ten feet ahead, leaving the ship 
fixed in the midst, and wedged up in every direction :" a- 
novelty which, it is said, strangely puzzled the Green- 
land men. 

In this way, with continual convulsive cracks and omi- 
nous tremblings, thus wedged in, the Terror was borne 
away in the midst of the ocean, Heaven knows where, 
for none on board could know, from the prevailing fogs 
and trustless compasses, till the 11th of March, when a 
little respite was afforded by the fineness of the day, 
which induced some of the men to amuse themselves by 
cutting figures of houses, forts, vessels, and men and 






back's attempt to reach repulse bay. 339 

women from blocks of snow, with little boys in hats and 
trowsers, and depositing them on a smooth piece of solid 
ice clinging to the ship for exhibition : thus the light- 
hearted crew, in the first moment that the tranquillity of 
the ice and the returning warmth of the sun permitted, 
aroused themselves to indulge in a little gayety, and at 
once to forget past dangers. This state of tranquillity, 
however, was but of short duration : other concussions, 
and groanings and tremblings, some of them more se- 
vere and threatening than before, were renewed and 
kmg continued : the ship's condition will be best de- 
scribed in Captain Back's own words : 

" On the 16th of March another rush drove irresistibly on 
the larboard quarter and stern, and forcing the ship ahead, 
raised her up on the ice. A chaotic ruin followed : our poor 
and cherished courtyard, its wall and arched doors, gallery, 
and well-trodden paths, were rent, and, in some parts, 
ploughed up like dust. The ship was careened fully four 
streaks, and sprung aleak as before. Scarcely were ten min- 
utes left us for the expression of our astonishment that any 
thing of human build could outlive such assaults, when anoth- 
er equally violent rush succeeded ; and in its way to the star- 
board quarter, threw up a rolling wave thirty feet high, 
crowned by a blue square mass of many tons, resembling the 
entire side of a house, which, after hanging for some time in 
doubtful poise on the ridge, at length fell with a crash into 
the hollow, in which, as in a cavern, the after part of the ship 
seemed embedded. The poor ship cracked and trembled 
violently ; and no one could say that the next minute would 
not be her last, and, indeed, his own too, for with her our 
means of safety would probably perish." — P. 280. 

On consulting his officers, they agreed that a light 
boat, with provisions, should, if possible, be landed [on 
the ice], to serve as a last resource to communicate with 
the Hudson's Bay Company's factory in the event of 
the loss of the ship, an event that might happen at any 
moment. 

c | We were in momentary expectation of seeing the two re- 
maining floe-pieces, on which we were partly poised, separate, 
so as to allow the ship to settle into the water, especially 
when the outer portion of the cracked floe, on the starboard 
side, suddenly parted from its better half, and glided mysteri- 
ously away among the still rugged but looser fragments near. 
But when our favorite look-out, which we had jestingly de- 



340 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

nominated Mount Pleasant, the faithful companion of our 
wanderings from Cape Bylot to this spot, stanch and unshaken 
amid the crash and ruin which had surrounded it — when this 
too departed, and became lost and undistinguishable among 
other peaks and hommocs, what could we look for but an ut- 
ter desolation of all the parts of our system?" — P. 304. 

Still they remained firm as a rock : the sides of the 
icy cradle had departed, but the foundation remained, 
and earned its burden along with it at pleasure. On 
the 10th of April, being near Sir James Gordon's Bay, 
which is close to Sea-horse Point, they were met by 
rising wave-s of ice rolling their burdens toward the ship. 
" One had reared itself thirty feet on our inner floe- 
piece, which, strong as it was, gave way under the ac- 
cumulated weight ; and a mass of several tons being 
thus upturned and added to the original bulk, the whole 
bore down slowly upon our quarter." 

" The ship herself was high out of the water, on the ice, 
but this overtopped her like a tower. Mean time we were 
getting nearer and nearer to the land-ice : large rents were 
showing themselves in the ice, at right angles on each side of 
the fore chains; the ship, unable to light herself, began to 
complain, and the scene every moment became more dark and 
threatening. Extra purchases were fixed to the pumps; the 
hands were turned up ; the sick provided for ; and, though 
nothing effectual could be done for our preservation, the at- 
tention of the men was occupied in hoisting two of the boats 
higher up. . . . What the result of that night might have been 
it is impossible to say, and painful to contemplate, had not an 
overriding Providence mercifully averted the crisis, by sud- 
denly, and at the moment of the greatest peril, arresting the 
tumult."— P. 313. 

On the 21st they were still off Sea-horse Point, but 
on the 23d found themselves twelve or fifteen miles 
from it, the ship's head pointing toward Mill Islands. 
In this new posture of affairs, Back says, " it was 
deemed expedient immediately to refit, as far as could 
be conveniently done." The sails, which had for so 
many months been useless, were put in order, the ship 
was scoured, and the provisions and other articles were 
brought on deck, ready, in case of need, to be restowed. 
On this day another death occurred, after a lingering 
disease, in the person of Alexander Young, a marine. 

From the 10th of May till the 7th of June the ice 






back's attempt to reach repulse bay. 341 

remained compact, and not a drop of water to be seen. 
On the 9th mention is still made of " our pack," unal- 
tered in area, though slightly diminished in thickness, 
and on it "the after part of the ship lay immovably 
wedged." On the 11th of June the ice was again per- 
fectly compact. Seven men were on the sick-list. On 
the 15th of June the ice still stuck to the ship in such a 
manner, that Back says " it looked as if the ship had 
been placed in a bed of some plastic composition, which 
time had indurated into the solidity,, and almost the sub- 
stance, of limestone rock." On the 20th they had been 
drifting near to Charles's Island ; and from this day till 
the 8th of July the crew were employed in endeavor- 
ing to release the ship from her icy cradle, but she still 
remained impenetrably close. 

On the 11th of July, as the crew were busy extrica- 
ting calves* and cutting a trench, Captain Back says. 
" Scarcely had I taken a few turns on deck and de- 
scended to my cabin, when a loud rumbling notified 
that the ship had broken her icy bonds, and was sliding 
gently down into her own element. I ran hastily on 
deck, and joined in the cheers of the officers and men, 
who, dispersed on different pieces of ice, took this sig- 
nificant method of expressing their feelings : it was a 
sight not to be forgotten." For three or four days after 
this the ship had remained, as it were, on her beam 
ends, so that " no one could move about the deck with- 
out holding on by the ropes to windward ;" when, on 
the 14th of July, " suddenly, and before a word could 
be spoken, the liberated ship lighted entirely," and " I 
know not," says Back, " how many cheers commemo- 
rated the occasion." It was indeed, as he says, " a 
scene not to be forgotten by the spectators." 

The whole voyage, in fact, was of a nature so extra- 
ordinary and unparalleled in the history of voyages, 
ancient and modern, as not to be forgotten even by the 
readers of it, still less by the spectators. A ship actually 
cradled in the ice for four consecutive months, and 
dragged about utterly helpless, as indeed she had been 
full six months before, wedged immovably in or on floes 

* Masses of ice below the surface of the sea, projecting from the main 
body above it 

F f 2 



" 



3 42 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

of ice, after a previous month's severe exertions on the 
part of the officers and men to extricate her, so long as 
sails and warps were of any avail — such a case, it may 
confidently be repeated, has no parallel. To pass a 
winter among ice in a ship firmly fixed in a harbor or 
close to the shore, quietly and without hard labor on the 
part of the men, and with all their comforts about them, 
has not been found disagreeable ; but to winter in a ship 
which for ten long months was tossed about amid inter- 
minable ice in the wide ocean, always in motion, and 
unceasingly threatened to be crushed to atoms, when 
every soul on board must inevitably have perished — such 
a case can not be contemplated without the strongest 
feelings of compassion for the helpless sufferers. And 
it is highly creditable and most praiseworthy to officers 
and men, and more particularly to the former, that by 
their steady and unrepining conduct they prevented de- 
spondency from seizing upon the minds of the latter. 
The tranquillity and constant good humor, not to say 
cheerfulness, of Captain Back, and the unremitting ex- 
ertions of Lieutenant (now Captain) Smyth, are above 
all praise. 

Nothing now was left frnt to get home as speedily as 
they could with the " crazy, broken, and leaky" Terror, 
which they succeeded in bringing safely to Lough 
Swilly. " Thus ended," says Captain Back, " an expe- 
dition from which, had it been permitted to reach its 
port of disembarcation, it was reasonable to expect the 
full accomplishment of its objects. Uncontrollable cir- 
cumstances prevented it. The problem itself which it 
was intended to solve remains unaltered." Not quite 
so. In the two years following, the principal part of it 
was solved by two officers of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany. Captain Back says that the season was so bad 
that the Hudson's Bay ship of that year was obliged to 
return without completing her voyage. It is to be 
hoped, however, that after the harassing difficulties ex- 
perienced by Sir Edward Parry, and the failure of Cap- 
tain George Lyon, and that now by Sir George Back, 
no farther attempt will ever be made where Cape Com- 
fort and the Frozen Strait are concerned. 

Captain Back's character is well known, but a short 



sack's attempt to reach repulse bay. 343 

sketch of his services may not be inappropriate. He 
entered the navy in 1808, in his thirteenth year, on board 
the Arethusa. The following year he had much boat- 
service on the coast of Spain ; on one occasion he was 
in the lanch, which was captured, but not until fifteen 
men out of eighteen were killed or mortally wounded. 
Back was sent a prisoner to Verdun. On his release 
in 1814 he joined the Akbar, which was sent to the 
North American station, and on coming home, received 
the flag of Sir Byam Martin, and was sent to the 
Scheldt. In 1816 he passed his examination, and was 
appointed Admiralty midshipman of the Bulwark, and 
n 1818 Admiralty midshipman of the Trent, under the 
command of Lieutenant Franklin. The following year 
he again joined his friend Lieutenant Franklin, who was 
about to proceed to the coast of the Polar Sea, where 
his character for talent, activity, and exertion was fully 
established, and his humanity displayed by saving the 
lives of the whole party, at the expense of great per- 
sonal suffering. On his return he was promoted to the 
rank of lieutenant, joined the Sea-horse, and was sent to 
Gibraltar, then to the West Indies, Bermuda, and Lis- 
bon ; from the last he returned to join his friend Frank- 
lin, as lieutenant on his second expedition, in 1825 ; 
came back in 1827, and was made commander. Being 
abroad for the recovery of his health, and having learned 
that Captain Boss and his nephew had not been heard 
of, he returned home, and by his own exertions, and 
the recommendation of the Royal Geographical Society 
to Lord Goderich, was appointed to proceed through 
North America to the eastern portion of the coast of 
the Polar Sea. The abstract of his journal has been de- 
scribed. He returned in 1835, and was promoted to the 
rank of captain. In 1836 the Admiralty decided that an 
expedition should be sent to Wager River or Repulse 
Bay, and Back, as we have just seen, was appointed to 
the command of H. M. S. Terror; and on his return 
from this disastrous voyage he received the honor of 
knighthood, 






344 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

1. Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a Northwest. 
Passage, and of a Residence in the Arctic Regions du- 
ring the Years 1829-30-31-32-33. By Sir John Ross, C.B., 
K.S.A., K.C.S., &c., Sac., Captain in the Royal Navy. 

2. Report from Select Committee on the Expedition to the 
Arctic Seas, commanded by Captain John Ross, R.N. 
Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 28th of 
April, 1834. 

3. Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of Amer- 
ica during the Years 1836-39. By Thomas Simpson, Esq 

Having put on record the title of the narrative of this 
second voyage, together with the multifarious personal 
distinctions, &c, any farther notice of the " Narrative" 
of Captain John Ross (as he is simply described in the 
Report of the Select Committee) will be dispensed with, 
mainly for the reason that the " second voyage" was a 
private speculation, not authorized by any branch of the 
government, and that the report of a committee of the 
House of Commons preceded its publication ; it may 
therefore be supposed to contain the substance of the 
most material points in the " Narrative," and on that ac- 
count the only notice of it will be confined to the pro- 
ceedings of this committee. 

Besides, the title-page of the book gives no encourage- 
ment for one to look into it, especially one who was using 
his best endeavors to promote expeditions for the search 
of a northwest passage, which Captain John Ross repu- 
diates, though, with his usual consistency, he announces 
his book to be the " Narrative of a Voyage in Search of a 
Northwest Passage." And this he still announces after 
the following questions and his answers, on examination 
before the committee, had been published : 

" Do you conceive that any farther attempt to discover the 
Northwest Passage would be attended with great danger ?" 

Captain Ross says, " I do." 



MISCELLANEOUS. 345 

" And if successful, would it be attended with any public 
benefit? 

" I believe it would be utterly useless.". 

A farther question might here properly enough have 
been put, but was not : " Then why did you go in search 
of a thing so utterly useless, and attended with so much 
danger,? 5 ' And now (having assigned reasons for not 
meddling with the " Narrative") to proceed. It is not 
the business of any one to search into the real object that 
could have induced a captain of the navy to take the com- 
mand of a merchant ship, without a commission, without 
official instructions, and without any authority but such 
as is given to the skipper of a trading vessel, or to in- 
quire into the motives that could actuate a wealthy spir- 
it-distiller to supply d£l7,000 for the outfit of the said 
vessel. It may perhaps, at first, have worn the ap- 
pearance, from the profound secrecy with which it was 
desired by the contributor to be conducted, of having 
originated in the prospect of being a promising specula- 
tion ; and so indeed it turned out, notwithstanding the 
most discouraging outset, and the distressing circumstan- 
ces that attended the execution of the voyage ; for it 
was entirely owing to the latter that the projector of it 
received a grant of money beyond his outlay, and the 
proprietor, if he may be so called, received for the mon- 
ey he advanced the grant of a distinguished honor : thus 
it is to be hoped that the expectations of both have been 
satisfied; nor will they be considered by any one as mis- 
placed, the one being a remuneration for his long suffer- 
ings and anxieties, the other for his disinterested and 
munificent generosity. 

The history of the undertaking is a short one, and told 
by the parties themselves to the committee moved for 
by Mr. Cutler Fergusson, a Scotch member of Parlia- 
ment, the object being to obtain for Captain Ross the 
sum of c£5000 as a compensation for the expenses in- 
curred by him, amounting to between 662000 and d£3000, 
and in consideration, it may be supposed, of his suffer- 
ings : a sum which would at once have been awarded by 
the House of Commons, and thus have spared a great 
deal of nonsense in the committee, as will be seen in the 
few extracts that will here be produced. We have, 



•' 



346 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

first, the history of the expedition, which is doubtless 
the true one. 

Captain Ross examined : 

"What was the inducement to you to undertake this last 
expedition ? 

" When his majesty became lord-high-admiral I sent in 
my propositions, and afterward again to Lord Melvill^ when 
he became again first lord of the Admiralty : I received an 
answer that they did not intend to pursue it any more. 

" What was the cost of the expedition ? 

" The cost of the expedition was £ 17,000 to Mr. Booth 
and £3000 to me. 

" Did your men express themselves satisfied with what had 
been done to them by the Admiralty 1 

" Every one of them ; they all rejoiced that the Admiralty 
had behaved so well to them." [The Admiralty gave them 
double fall-pay till they abandoned the ship, and full pay af- 
terward, in all £4580.] 

Mr. Felix Booth examined : 

*' Perhaps you will have no objection to state the circum 
stances which induced you first to undertake the charge of 
the enterprise which Captain Ross commanded 1 

" Not in the least. I had known Captain Ross for some 
years, and I undertook it for the credit of the country and to 
serve Captain Ross, thinking that he was slighted in his for- 
mer expedition ; that there was a cloud hanging over him, and 
that he was anxious of an opportunity of going out again. 1 
felt interested that all discoveries should be made by our 
countrymen. He said he should very much like to go out 
again, and thought he could do it at a small expense. I said, 
1 Well, then, put down, and let me see what you call a small 
expense.' He afterward brought me a paper, making it about 
£10,000. I said, 'Well, I should have no objection to ad- 
vance £ 10,000, if that would be the utmost sum required ;' 
but I said, ' I will not engage in it, because there is £20,000 
reward for any person who shall discover the passage, and it 
would look veiy much as though I had an object in view.' 

" About a twelvemonth after he came to me, and said 
Now it is all over; the reward is done away with.' I then 
said I was glad of it, and if he wanted assistance I was will- 
ing to give it ; he was amazingly delighted : on which I told 
him, ' I will assist you, but remember it must be in the ut- 
most confidence, and I will not do any thing that is inimical to 
government.' 

" In the event of Parliament voting any money to Captain 
Ross, have you any expectation of receiving any portion of it ? 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



347 



" Certainly not. 

" Yonr object in making this munificent sacrifice of private 
fortune was solely for the advancement of the honor of the 
country, the interest of science, and to gratify the feelings of 
a friend ? 

" Precisely ; that is the truth." 

Thus far every thing appears to have been conducted 
with great liberality on one side, and with a proper feel- 
ing on the other. If, as Mr. Booth states, Captain Ross 
felt a cloud was hanging over him on account of ill-na- 
tured reports, and, moreover, felt himself slighted, he 
certainly took the most proper method of silencing them, 
by going out once more to the same spot where he had 
undoubtedly failed on the former expedition ; but the 
slight he received must be imaginary, for he was pro- 
moted to the rank of captain immediately after his re- 
turn from a few months' voyage of pleasure, for so it 
may be called. Captain Ross has since endeavored to 
expiate the fault imputed to him by a second expedition, 
though a private one, in which, however, he has com- 
mitted some grave geographical errors, and made some 
other veiy absurd observations, into which he was incau- 
tiously led by injudicious and not very appropriate ques- 
tions of the committee. 

The money being promptly forthcoming, a ship called 
the Victory was purchased, and fitted out with steam-en- 
gine and paddle-wheels, which turned out, as Ross, pro- 
fessing to be a good mechanic, ought to have foreseen, a 
perpetual and harassing encumbrance. The manning of 
this vessel consisted of himself, Commander James Ross, 
Mr. M'Diarmid, surgeon, Mr. Thorn, purser, and a crew 
of nineteen men, making in all twenty-three persons. 
They left England in June, 1829, reached Davis's Strait 
in July, and Lancaster Sound in August ; found no im- 
pediment in proceeding to the western side of Prince 
Regent's Inlet, and from that side to the beach where 
the Fury was wrecked, but no appearance of the vessel, 
having either gone to pieces or gone to the bottom. The 
tent-poles, however, were still standing, and vast heaps 
of casks, cases, and canisters were observed to be piled 
up ; and, on landing, all found to be entire. The Vic- 
tory was therefore moored, in order to put on board her 
as much bread, flour, wine, spirits, sugar, cocoa, &c, 



* 






348 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

as she could stow, after which the heap is said to have 
been scarcely diminished. There is some reason to be- 
lieve that this precious deposit of stores was one great 
cause of Ross having taken this route, though he told the 
committee it was in search of what had been agitated the 
last 200 years, and also that the object was to decide 
whether there was that passage, to which Captains Par- 
ry and Franklin had devoted their attention. But he 
meorover told the committee, " I should not have been 
justified in going if I had not known that the stores of 
the Fury were in Prince Regent's Inlet." He knew 
of what they consisted from Parry, and might, perhaps, 
have been in possession of an invoice of the whole, 
amounting, it is said, to three years' consumption. 

By the end of September the Victory reached a har- 
bor on the southeast corner of the land which she had 
been coasting, and to which, out of gratitude, Ross gave 
the name of Boothia ; but the northern part of this coast, 
for about a hundred miles, had been named by Captain 
Parry North Somerset, and it was about two hundred 
more to the harbor, to which was given the name of 
Felix. Here the Victory was frozen up for the winter, 
and remained fast bound up just twelve months. 

This is all stated before the committee, a portion of 
whose proceedings follows. But, in the first place, it 
may be right to point out that the committee, in their 
report, have been grossly misled in stating, among the 
great public services which Ross has performed, " the 
demonstration that one passage, which had been consid- 
ered by preceding navigators to be one of the most like- 
ly to lead from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, does 
not exist." Now what was this demonstration ? They 
had asked him if he conceived he had ascertained the 
fact that no practicable communication existed between 
the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, and he replies, " Posi- 
tively to the southward of the 74th degree :" and he far- 
ther takes occasion to tell them, "We established Leo- 
pold's Island to be the northeast point of America :" in 
other words, no communication exists between the west- 
ern and the eastern seas to the southward of that point ; 
and his demonstration, or positive proof, is thus brought 
out. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 349 

Captain Ross examined : 

" Did you observe the difference in the altitude of the two 
seas east and west of Boothia Felix ? 

" Yes. 

" What was the difference ? 

" The difference is thirteen feet. 

" Upon the supposition that the land is continuous north- 
ward from the 74th degree to the Pole, should you expect to 
find that difference of altitude in the seas ? 

" I should certainly, from the rotative motion of the earth." 

The learned member who put these questions seems 
not to have been satisfied with the replies which he had 
received from Captain Ross, for on a third examination 
he returns to the charge : 

" You stated, among the other reasons you gave, that there 
was no northwest passage practicable ; that there was a dif- 
ference in the altitude of the two seas east and west of the 
isthmus which unites Boothia with the continent of America ? 

" Yes ; I was the only officer there : Commander Ross had 
no opportunity of ascertaining it; it was while he was on 
other services : it was when I went with the provisions to 
him I ascertained that; in two years, in June, 1830, and the 
end of May, 1831. 

" The observations made at two different times both led 
you to the same result ? 

"Yes. 

" Have you any doubt upon that? 

" Not at all ; I measured it with the theodolite in the usual 
way ; the process becomes very simple, and incapable of er- 
ror to those who understand it. 

" There is a difference, is there not, in the altitude of the 
Pacific and Atlantic Oceans on the east and west sides of the 
Isthmus of Darien ? 

" I have heard there is, and the Eed Sea and the Mediter- 
ranean also ; there is eight feet rise and fall of tide on those 
isthmuses, and only fourteen inches on the west side ; I tried 
that at the time ; I broke a hole in the ice for the purpose." 

Captain Ross must here have been sadly bewildered, 
which caused him to talk unintelligible nonsense. The 
member who put the question did not ask for explana- 
tion, but for a simple fact. He appeared, indeed, to be 
himself somewhat in the dark. Had he consulted his 
Arrowsmith, he would have found that the Isthmus of 
Darien has neither east nor west sides — they are north 
Gg 



350 



ARCTIC VOYAGES. 






and south. Those isthmuses in the Red Sea and Med- 
iterranean are utterly unintelligible ; and those of Booth- 
ia and Darien are calculated to put one in mind of the 
rivers of Monmouth and Macedon. There is an Isthmus 
of Darien and an Isthmus of Boothia, " and there is thir- 
teen feet water at both ;" the thirteen feet appears very 
much to have been borrowed from Mr. Lloyd's " Darien." 
The examiner would seem not yet to have been satisfied 
with the process of the theodolite and the hole in the 
ice ; he should have inquired what was the result of the 
hole ; did it, like one of the Geysers of Iceland, throw 
up a jet of thirteen feet, not of hot, but salt water? 

Commander James Ross was asked,. 

" Are you aware of the fact, that the two seas right and 
left of the isthmus which connects Boothia with the continent 
of America are of different altitudes ? 

" No, I am not ; nor had we the means of ascertaining the 
fact with accuracy ; it would take at least two or three months 
to ascertain it with the accuracy such an observation would 
require. 

" You have no reason to suppose such a thing ? 

" None whatever. No ; I never heard of it till this mo- 
ment. 

" Has Captain Ross never told you that he had ascertained 
that to be the fact ? 

" Captain Ross may have made observations which have 
satisfied his mind ; but I doubt whether he can have made 
observations that would satisfy the minds of those who may 
investigate the matter." 

So much for Captain Ross's "demonstration''' 1 of the 
water-built wall, 13 feet high, extending from Booth- 
ia to the North Pole, and his joining Boothia to North 
America ; yet he satisfied the committee, as appears by 
their report, that a passage south of Boothia does not ex- 
ist. But the committee and Ross also shall be satisfied, 
before this chapter closes, that not only is there no such 
junction, but that they are completely divided by a navi- 
gable strait, ten miles wide and upward, leading past 
Back's Estuary and into the gulf, of which the proper 
name is Akkoolee, not Boothia; and, moreover, that the 
two seas flow as freely into each other as Lancaster 
Sound does into the Polar Sea, and are, of course, on the 
same level. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 351 

Next after this lucid demonstration, it remains to be 
explained by what process he utterly demolishes the 
Northwest Passage. It has already been noticed that 
Captain Ross conceived any farther attempts to discover 
the Northwest Passage would be very dangerous, and, if 
successful, would be utterly useless. 

Ross was asked : 

" The indications that were relied upon in the beginning 
of these voyages of discovery, as to leading to the conclusion 
that a passage might be found, have totally failed ? 

" They have been totally disproved." 

Commander James Ross : 

" What was your experience in former voyages ? 

" I had been in five former expeditions, and had been en 
gaged about ten years in those seas. 

" Did you, in fact, accompany all the preceding Arctic ex- 
peditions sent to those seas on discovery ? 

" I accompanied all the recent expeditions sent to those 
seas on discovery. 

" On how many of them had Captain Ross been ? 

" Only on the first. 

" How many summers have you passed on those seas ? 

'■t Fourteen summers, and eight winters. 

" You do not think the voyage has furnished any conclusion 
against the existence of a northwest passage ? 

" No ; it has made it still more certain than it was before 
that a northwest passage must exist. 

" Upon what observations made in the last voyage do you 
ground that opinion ? 

" From the additional portion of the outline of the conti- 
nent of America explored on this occasion, on the eastern 
coast of America, and the western coast of Boothia. 

" Do you believe that it would be practicable to go through 
that northwestern passage ? 

" There is no question that it would be much more easy 
now that we are acquainted with the nature of the formation 
of the continent of America." 

Captain Francis Beaufort examined : 

" Has the voyage undertaken by Captain Ross, in your 
opinion, been equal in importance, with respect to the ques- 
tion of the northwest passage, with previous voyages under- 
taken for the purpose of ascertaining it ? 

H I do not know how to shape an answer to that question, 
unless by measuring the number of miles discovered in each 
voyage. 



? 



352 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

" Do you consider that the closing up of Prince Regent's 
Inlet narrows the range within which a northwest passage 
may be found within a short compass ? 

" It only narrows it by one of the openings. 

" Does it narrow the opening to something above 74 de- 
grees north latitude ? 

" There are several openings from the end of Lancaster 
Sound. Prince Regent's Inlet was one of them : by closing 
that, he has removed one of the probable means of getting to 
the westward ; but there are three still open. 

" Will you specify their names ? 

" One is going out by the Wellington Channel to the north- 
west ; another proceeding by Melville Island ; and the third 
would be by getting to the southwest after passing the cape, 
which Captain Ross supposes [asserts] to be the northern ex- 
treme of America, toward the shore laid down by Franklin 
and Richardson. 

" Do you consider that the closing of the most southerly 
outlet closes that supposed to be most likely to be practicable ? 

" No ; for that is not the route I should have taken if em- 
ployed on that service." 

Nothing farther need be said on Captain Ross's opin- 
ions regarding a northwest passage ; but as Commander 
James Ross is the officer who did all that was done, or 
could be done, and appears not to have been treated on 
this committee as he ought to have been, it may be 
proper to state, briefly, an outline of what he did on this 
voyage, in addition to what has been said of him at the 
conclusion of Parry's " Polar Voyage." 

The first year after reaching Felix Harbor, Com- 
mander Ross made five or six journeys from the ship, 
of about a month to ten days or a fortnight, each . s On 
the first he discovered and crossed the isthmus of 
Boothia, which joins it to a peninsula. On a future 
journey he ascertained it to be fifteen miles in width, 
with a lake in the center, and five miles of land. To a 
question of the committee as to what part he took in the 
geographical discoveries made, his reply was, " The 
whole extent of geographical discoveiy is perhaps be- 
tween 600 and 700 miles of new land ; out of that prob- 
ably about 260 miles were discovered in the ship as she 
proceeded down the coast ; the remaining 400 or 500 
were discovered by myself, with parties of three or 
four men detached from the ship — expeditions that 






MISCELLANEOUS. 353 

were severally planned and conducted by myself." He 
also states, in reply to farther questions, that observa- 
tions in geology, natural history, and botany, with the 
collecting of specimens, were made by himself, he being 
the only person who at all understood the nature of 
those subjects. He is then asked if he personally made 
the . observations from which he inferred that he had 
discovered the true position of the magnetic pole. " I 
did," he says, "for two years previous to the time I 
went to the magnetic pole. I was engaged in observa- 
tions necessaiy to determine its exact position ; having 
ascertained that spot, I then conducted a party to the 
point so determined, and there I made a series of ob- 
servations by which I ascertained that to be the exact 
position of the magnetic pole." 

It must be considered most ungenerous, on the part 
of Captain Ross, to detract, as he does in his examina- 
tion, from the merit of his nephew, who alone deserves 
the credit of having fixed the point, as near as is capable 
of being done, of the "Western Magnetic Pole. In his 
answers to the committee he never once considers Com- 
mander Ross as the sole discoverer, but would make it 
appear that every thing was done in his presence, and 
with his co-operation : thus, for instance, he says, " we 
were in a position where the compass had no power of 
traversing — by continuing our observations ice arrived at 
the spot — ice passed round it — whichever way we passed 
it, as we passed round it, the compass turned toward it 
horizontally." The truth, however, was elicited at last. 

" How near were you yourself to the point of the Magnet- 
ic Pole ? .. 

" I suppose I was within forty miles" 

And this, then, must have been the distance at which 
tve were walking round it. The committee might have 
had the sagacity to ask him how long it took him to 
walk round the circuit of one hundred and twenty miles. 
They did ask him another kind of question : 

" Within what area do you conceive you have reduced the 
situation of it ? 

" One mile." 

The same question being put to Captain Beaufort, he 
replies, " There can be no specific .or precise point to 
23 G e 2 



354 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

fix the situation of the Magnetic Pole within a degree 
or half a degree." 

It was a general belief at the time, that, had Captain 
Ross's conduct before the committee been of a contrary 
tendency, the committee would have been disposed to 
have recommended for his nephew, what he richly de- 
served, some pecuniary reward, as compensation for his 
losses, which amounted to d£300 or 66400. Every thing, 
in fact, in this ill-advised expedition, rested on the talent 
and activity of the commander : it is. not clear, indeed, 
that the lives of the whole party did not depend on him. 
The committee ask him : 

" Had you an opportunity of personal participation in any 
specific service to the expedition, by which you consider that 
the lives of the people were preserved V 

He modestly replies, 

" I do not know whether I should quite say I had ; but 
certainly it was essential to the safety of the people that I 
should leave them on one occasion. Accompanied by two 
of the strongest of the party, I advanced toward the Fury's 
stores, to see whether they were there or not ; for, had they 
gone there without finding the provisions, the whole, or near- 
ly the whole, party must have perished ; but by my going 
and returning with a supply of pi-ovisions, I enabled them to 
reach the Fury's stores." 

Captain Ross should have been the last person to 
throw any impediment in the way of remuneration to 
his nephew. He and his crew were amply rewarded 
in money, and himself in money and in honors ; the 
former was very properly bestowed, for his boldly en- 
gaging in so hazardous, though ill-advised an enterprise, 
for the sufferings of himself and party, and for the long- 
continued anxiety, which money can only poorly re- 
ward : of the latter no one will envy him ; a few foreign 
princes may think themselves flattered by having their 
names dotted along the coast-line of a thing called a 
chart, but the King of England's family are not so easily 
1 captivated by baits of this kind. Captain Beaufort says, 

" Captain Ross brought to me a chart to prepare for the 
king, which I did, and returned it to him ; and there is 
no copy of it left in the Hydrographical Office :" and 
as Captain Beaufort makes no description of it, neither 



MISCELLANEOUS. 355 

will any be made here ; the less that is said of it the 
better. The honors, however, have been carefully pre- 
served, and copied into a certain repository* for general 
information, as follow : 

" Ross, Captain Sir John, entered the navy in 1790 ; fifteen 
years a midshipman ; seven years a lieutenant ; seven years 
a commander; became a post-captain in 1818; received nu- 
merous marks of public approbation in consequence of his 
Arctic Expeditions ; was made a Commander of the Sword 
of Sweden; a Knight of the Second Class of St. Anne of 
Prussia (in diamonds) ; Second Class of the Legion of Hon- 
or ; Second Class of the Red Eagle of Prussia ; Second Class 
of Leopold of Belgium ; gold medals from the Geographical 
Society of London, the Geographical Institute of Paris, the 
Royal Societies of Sweden, Austria, Denmark, &c. ; the free- 
dom of the cities of London, Liverpool, Bristol, Hull, &c. ; 
six gold snuffboxes from Russia, Holland, Denmark, Austria, 
London, and Baden ; a sword valued at £ 100 from the Pat- 
riotic Fund ; a sword, value £200, from the King of Sweden, 
for service in the Baltic and White Sea, &c. ; and numerous 
other acknowledgments of his eminent services in the expedi- 
tion to Baffin's Bay in 1818, and his discovery of Boothia Fe- 
lix and the North Magnetic Pole ! Is now consul at Stock- 
holm, to which office he was appointed in 1838." 

Franklin, Parry, James Ross, and Richardson, be 
contented with your simple knighthood, assured that 
you have no occasion to covet any of the numerous hon- 
ors and et ceteras carefully registered in Mr. Dodd's list, 
and knowing that your merits are enrolled elsewhere. 

The result of all the nonsense about isthmuses, the- 
odolites, and holes in the ice, and the absurdities to 
which they gave rise, have been completely quashed by 
the persevering and energetic labors of Messrs. Dease 
and Simpson, two officers of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany : their extensive discoveries are contained in a 
small volume, which carries with it the stamp of truth 
and modesty, f These gentlemen have surveyed the 
remainder of the western part of the coast, left by 
Franklin, from his Return Reef to Cape Barrow ; again, 
from Point Turn-again to the eastward, as far as the 

* Dodd's Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, &c. 

t Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast, of America, effected 
by the Officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, during the years 1836- 
1839. By Thomas Simpson, Esq. 



856 ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

Gulf of Akkoolee : to this latter portion the notice here 
taken must be confined. 

In July, 1839, they entered the Coronation Gulf for 
the second time with their two boats, passed Cape 
Turn-again, and, from a point on the continent of Amer- 
ica to the eastward of Turn-again, they thence observed 
to the northward a large tract of land, to which they 
gave the name of Victoria, either joining with, or sepa- 
rated by a strait from, Wollaston Land. On their re- 
turn they traced the coast of Victoria for about eleven 
degrees of longitude. From Cape Alexander, the south- 
ern coast of the Polar Sea trended southernly to a large 
bay crowded with islands, which they called Labyrinth 
Bay, opposite to which was Melbourne Island. Lower 
down the coast, in latitude 58°, was Sir Guy Campbell's 
Bay, into which Ellice River poured its waters — a stream 
described as much larger than Copper Mine River; the 
bordering country consisting of green flats, little lakes, 
and knotty knolls. This, coast still descended to the 
southward, Ogden Bay being the lowest, in latitude 67° 
36', longitude 101° 15'. 

On the 10th of August they found the American coast 
trending to the northeastward, and " proceeded all day 
among islands, so that some of the party began to ap- 
prehend we had lost the continent altogether." In the 
evening, however, the rapid rush of the tide and the 
position of Back's River "left no longer any room to 
doubt the neighborhood of an open sea." But Mr. 
Simpson says, " I candidly acknowledge that we were 
not prepared to find so southerly a strait leading to the 
estuary of the Great Fish River (Back's), but rather 
expected first to double Cape Felix of Commander 
James Ross, toward which the coast had been latterly 
trending." Their object had been to proceed northerly 
as far as Cape Felix, and they continued in a direction 
along the coast which would have led them to it ; but, 
on finding a separation by their newly-discovered strait 
leading to the eastward, they entered by doubling the 
southern point of it, which they call Geddes ; they pro- 
ceeded along that coast, on a point of which Simpson 
landed, and found that to be Back's Point Ogle. They 
entered the estuary, passer] Point Pechell, nnd ascended 



MISCELLANEOUS. 35? 

southernly to Montreal Island, on which they landed 
near the spot where Back had encamped ; and under 
the guidance of M'Kay (one of Back's men), they dis- 
covered among the rocks a deposit of bags of pemmican, 
chocolate, canisters of gunpowder, and percussion caps. 
The pemmican is said to have been " literally alive" 
and the chocolate rotten. Some minor articles were 
taken possession of by the two leaders, " as memorials 
of our having breakfasted on the identical spot where 
the tent of our gallant, though less successful, precursor 
stood that very day five years before." They had thus 
determined the northern limits of America to the west- 
ward as far as Back's Estuary ; it still remained a ques- 
tion whether some part of Boothia might not be united 
to the continent on the eastern side of the estuary. 
Doubling, therefore, its- eastern promontory, they passed 
a point of the continent which they named Cape Britan- 
nia, and another called Cape Selkirk ; and proceeding 
toward some islands in the Gulf of Akkoolee, so far as to 
satisfy themselves that they were to the eastward of any 
part of Boothia, they began to consider that the time of 
the year made their return expedient. Whereupon they 
commenced preparing their boats at this their farthest 
advance, and took the same route back, with this differ- 
ence, that in passing Simpson's new strait they now 
coasted it on the northern side, and designated the west- 
ern entrance cape, on that side, by the name of Herschel, 
where they erected a cairn, with the date 26th of Au- 
gust, 1839. The strait was there ten miles in width, 
and much more at the entrance near to Back's Estuary; 
at one place, about the middle, it was only three miles, 
and its depth from thirteen to sixteen fathoms. 

Mr. Simpson gives some observations on the dip of 
the magnetic needle. He says, when the Magnetic 
Pole bore from them N. 7° E. 105 miles, the dip was 
89° 29' 33" ; when N.N.E. 90 miles, it was 89° 28' 45"; 
and when off Cape Britannia, it had decreased to 89° 
16' 40", " as might have been expected from our in- 
creasing distance from the Magnetic Pole." 

On then- return along the coast of America, they 
crossed over to near Point Back — on the land of Victo- 
ria, and traced that shore as far as Point Parry — a space 



358 ARCV.C VOYAGES. 

of one hundred and fifty-six geographical miles ; but thia 
land extended both to the east and to the west beyond 
these two points ; and they supposed, as before men- 
tioned, that a wide channel might divide the latter from 
Wollaston Land. Their next object was the mouth of 
the Copper Mine River, which they reached on the 
16th of September, "after by far the longest voyage 
ever performed in boats on the Polar Seas, the distance 
we had gone not being less than 1408 geographical 
miles." 

Their account of the whole line of the Polar Sea 
coast of North America, from Icy Cape to the Gulf of 
Akkoolee, is well worth perusing ; but it is time that 
the present volume should draw to its close. The an- 
nexed small chart contains the combined discoveries of 
Ross, Simpson, and Back, on that portion of the North 
Coast of America opposite to, but divided from, the 
southern part of the Island of Boothia (itself a portion 
only of North Somerset), which united must now take 
their place among the numerous clusters that crowd the 
eastern part of the Polar Sea, some of them to a dis- 
tance northerly yet unknown. 

It will be seen by the chart that Sir James Ross 
thinks it not improbable, since the discovery of the land 
seen by Simpson, and marked on the chart " Captain 
James lioss's Point," that the vacant clotted space be- 
tween Point Scott and Cleft Mountain may be land, as 
he has marked it ; and also that the space between 
Cape Smyth and Point Scott may be a wide channel, 
opening into the lower part of Prince Regent's Inlet : 
should this be so, it will form the continuation of his own 
strait, through which not only a single ship and boats, 
but whole fleets, may pass. At the same time, it must 
be admitted that conjectural geography is never safe : 
the direction of a coast-line, or the course of a river, can 
only be known, and then imperfectly, to the distance of 
the farthest point of sight ; to arrive at correctness, they 
must be traced. 

The object of this miscellaneous chapter, with the 
small chart, is to point out distinctly, and to correct, the 
erroneous impression which the Report of a Select 
Committee of the House of Commons is calculated to 



MISCELLANEOUS. 359 

convey, founded on the most absurd nonsense, given in 
evidence before the committee, especially that part of 
it from which a conclusion is drawn that a passage does 
not exist between the bottom of Prince Regent's Inlet 
and the Polar Sea, which has since been proved to be 
wholly incorrect. 



THE END. 



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